Tseng's Replacement
by The Blonde
Summary: The threat of Meteor, Sephiroth, and Jenova is gone. ShinRa struggles to pick up the pieces of their once great corporation and Rufus tries to salvage his reputation. The remaining loyal Turks are caught in the middle of it all. YAOI.
1. Chapter 1

Warnings that wouldn't fit into the summary bar: **edited sexual content**, language, and violence.

* * *

The President was alive. Reno was amazed that any of the Shin-Ra Troops had enough loyalty and balls to check on the President after Diamond Weapon attacked. They found Rufus alive, but in bad shape. Yes, the President was alive, but he was going to have a long recovery. The man was in a wheelchair for the time being. His horribly burnt flesh concealed by a white robe.

"Reno."

"Yes, Mr. President?" Reno asked, snapping out of his daydream.

"Tell me again the fate of my subordinates."

"Tseng was killed by Sephiroth, Palmer ran off with his tail between his legs, Scarlet and Heidegger were killed by Cloud, Hojo was killed by Cloud..."

"Reeve?" Rufus interrupted.

"He is alive...somewhere. We don't know where exactly."

"And...Cloud?"

"We assume he is alive, sir."

"And the remaining Turks?"

"Except for myself, Elena, and Rude the Midgar division abandoned you. However the Junon divisions remain loyal."

"Reno."

"Yessir?"

"You are promoted to first in command, Rude is promoted to second, and Elena third. Find a replacement for Tseng. Promote one of the soldiers who rescued me." Rufus replied, handing Reno a list of names.

"Right away, sir."

Reno turned and left the President's temporary office. Shin-Ra had moved operations to Junon temporarily. It was better guarded then Midgar at the moment.

As Reno approached the elevator he saw Rude and Elena waiting for him.

"I'm the boss, Rude's the second mate, and Elena's still the rookie. However, Elena, there will soon be someone greener than you on this team. I get to promote someone to replace Tseng. Rufus wants one of the soldiers who rescued him to be promoted."

"Mm, great. Another rookie..." Was all Rude said.

Reno smirked and shoved the taller man's shoulder. "At least you don't have the pleasure of promoting and training the little shit."

"True enough." Rude replied with a smirk of his own.

"However...you two have to take orders from me now."

"The world really did end. I'm dead and in Hades." Elena muttered.

"Was that a burn, Elena dear? You're learning a bit more each day!" Reno grinned. "Your orders are... dick around until the President orders us out on a mission. Make sure to look important and busy."

"Yessir." Rude said with a sarcastic little salute.

The redhead chuckled and stepped onto the elevator, riding it down to street level.

"Ugh. Imagine...I have to set foot in soldier's barracks."

With a sigh Reno rested his weapon against his shoulder and strolled down the street. Even though these soldiers had saved his life Rufus was still Rufus. There was no way in hell the President was going to put them up in a hotel. He did, however, give them one of the cleaner barracks to live in. Reno found this quite amusing but decided that the soldiers probably wouldn't appreciate it as much as he did. The man entered the barracks and looked around. A skinny kid that Reno could hardly believe was a soldier jogged up to him.

"What can I do for you sir?" He asked.

"Tell me your name for starters." Reno replied.

"Timmons Lei." The teen replied.

The redhead dug Rufus' list out of his pocket and looked it over. "Yup. You're on here."

"Oh god...you're not going to kill me are you?" Timmons asked.

Reno stared at the scrawny blonde kid before shaking his head. "Uh, no. I'm actually here to promote someone. Gather your comrades in the kitchen area."

"Yessir!"

Timmons saluted and ran off. Not even a minute later seven people had gathered in the kitchen. They all stood in a rigidly straight line. Reno pinched the bridge of his nose. He'd forgotten most of his military terminology.

"Uh...you can relax." He said. "When I call out your name please respond. Timmons Lei."

"That's me. We met before remember?" Timmons replied.

Reno leveled a glare at the kid from over his paper and continued reading. "Tawana North."

The only woman in the group responded. "Here, sir."

The redhead nodded and continued reading from his list, "Aries Damalis."

"Right here, sir." A tall dark-skinned man replied.

"Vadin Ultman."

"Here." A handsome brunette answered.

Reno nodded again. There were three more names on his list. "Jonathan Williams."

"Here, sir." A spikey-haired brunette replied.

"Chester Ortiz."

"Here, sir."

"And Merrick Keane..."

"Here." The squadron leader replied.

"Congratulations, you saved the President. I didn't think anyone in Shin-Ra had the balls to go back and check on the President. Because of this...one of you is going to be promoted. Same order I called your names in, tell me if you can use a weapon other than a gun."

"I have no other weapon's expertise." Timmons replied.

"I'm good with my fists, assault rifles, and a whip." Tawana answered.

"Sword and assault rifles." Aries said.

"Assault rifles." Vadin answered.

"Sword." Jonathan replied shortly.

"Assault rifles, sword, fists, nunchuku, and spear." Chester answered.

"Fists." Merrick said.

Reno logged all this away and nodded. He walked up to the man called Jonathan and looked him over.

"Think you can protect the President?"

"No sir, I don't." Jonathan replied.

Now that was a surprising answer. Reno looked at the other soldiers. Everyone except Timmons and Jonathan were smirking slightly.

Ah, I see what's going on here. The veterans are hazing the rookies. Well...since I love to stir shit up...

"Well...good thing I train you first then. You're promoted to Turks." Reno said.

Jonathan's eyes widened slightly but he quickly hid his emotions. "Thank-you, sir."

Reno grinned. The smirks had been wiped off the vets' faces. He loved being a shit disturber.

"Well don't just stand there and gawk, boy. Go pack your shit and let's go." The redhead ordered.

Jonathan saluted and rushed off.

"The rest of you are dismissed." Reno said.

The man could tell the vets wanted to grumble about Jonathan's promotion but didn't dare to do so in front of him. A few minutes later Jonathan returned with his things. He didn't have much, which wasn't surprising for a soldier.

"Come on now. Follow me." Reno said, turning and leaving the barracks.

Jonathan said a short goodbye to his squadron then followed Reno out the door.

* * *

Unsurprisingly I got writer's block a lot while writing. I rewrote this chapter around 5...6... times before I was satisfied with what I came up with. 


	2. Chapter 2

As they walked along there was a low rumble of thunder in the distance. Clouds were rolling in, preparing to cover the setting sun.

"Uh…sir?" Jonathan asked.

"Call me Reno."

"Reno, why'd you pick me? There were way more qualified people there."

"True, but you were the only one I liked. The rest were too weak, ugly, or cocky."

Jonathan was silent as he pondered Reno's unusual and bluntly honest answer.

"So, Jonathan, got a shorter name?"

"…My friends call me Johnny."

"Johnny. Perfect." Reno grinned.

The redhead led Johnny onto the elevator and they headed to "upper-upper" Junon. This is where most of Shin-Ra's high-ranking employees lived when in Junon.

"You get to live with me." Reno said. "Elena gets her own place because she's a chick and Rude…well I guess he gets his own place now too. He did live with Tseng, that was our boss, but Tseng got killed by Sephiroth. Shame that is. Tseng was one of the best."

"So…you're in charge now?" Johnny asked.

"Yup. I'm the boss. Rude is third in command and Elena fourth. You're the green rookie."

More thunder rumbled as the storm moved closer. Reno led Johnny to a small condo that was squished in between more condos.

"The room upstairs is yours." He said, tossing a key to Johnny. "That's your door key. Don't lose it. If you do the cost to make a new one comes out of your pay check."

"Okay."

"Well…you go get all settled and shit I'll order us some supper. You like Wutai Food?"

Johnny nodded. "Yes."

"What do you like?"

"Glazed veggies, rice, dumplings, things like that."

"Okay then."

Reno flipped his cell open and called a restaurant. Johnny made his way upstairs and found his bedroom. It was a dull blue color and furnished with only a bed, nightstand, desk, and dresser. But then again he supposed the Turks didn't stay at home very much so there was no need for personal touches. The brunette unpacked his clothes, putting them in the dresser and closet. He didn't have much else, only a picture of his family which he placed on his nightstand. The man walked to his window and looked out. He could see nearly everything from his window. The storm clouds rolling in over the sea were closer now and he saw a bolt of lightning streak across them. Wondering if any of the houses on "upper-upper" Junon had ever been struck by lightning Johnny made his way downstairs. Reno was sitting at the island in the small kitchen reading a magazine. He nodded to the stool beside him when he noticed Johnny.

"Food will be here in twenty minutes. Do you smoke?" The redhead asked.

"No."

"Do you mind if I smoke?"

"No."

Reno took a cigarette from his pack and put it between his lips, lighting it. He took a deep drag and exhaled the smoke through his nose. Johnny resisted the urge to touch his own nose. That looked…painful.

"So...uhm…do we have a mission to go on?"

"Not yet. I have to train you first. Speaking of that…training begins tomorrow morning at five fucking AM." The redhead groaned. "Stupid training rules. They're murder on a slack-ass such as myself."

Johnny didn't reply. He was almost perplexed by Reno's attitude. It didn't really fit in with the vision of the Turks he'd had.

But then again Reno could be one of those types that isn't serious until work needs to be done.

Reno didn't seem to notice Johnny was lost in thought and he continued to puff away on his cigarette. Neither man talked until the doorbell rang.

"Supper is on me." Reno said, standing up to answer the door.

Reno paid for the food and brought it back to the island. He opened the paper bag and removed each carton.

"Smells fresh...for once." The redhead remarked.

Johnny opened the carton of dumplings and speared one with the chopsticks that came with the food. Reno opened a carton of noodles and dug in with a fork he got from a kitchen drawer.

"So what does training entail?" Johnny asked around a mouthful of dumpling.

"Weight training, running, obstacle course, weapons training, martial arts training, vehicle and driving training, swimming, climbing, parachuting, rappelling…there's more but I don't remember. I'll have to refresh my memory when we start."

"Wow. That is… a lot of training."

"Yeah well…we do a lot of shit." Reno replied. "But if Elena can do it you can do it."

"What do you mean?"

"Elena was Rufus' secretary before she was promoted to Turks." Reno answered. "They only promoted her because I was injured and they were desperate. At first I was pretty miffed but Elena completed all the training fair and square so she deserves her spot on the Turks."

"When do I get to meet the others?"

"Tomorrow." Reno stood and walked over to his fridge. "Want a beer?"

"Sure."

The man got two beers from his fridge and sat down again, sliding one bottle over to Johnny.

"Thanks."

Johnny opened his beer and had a sip. Despite the fact that it wasn't home cooked this was the best meal he'd had since joining with the Shin-Ra. Usually the soldiers were fed cold macaroni and cheese with lukewarm water to drink.

"So uhm…now that everyone knows that Mako is bad what do you think is going to happen to Shin-Ra?" The brunette asked.

Reno sighed softly and took a sip of his beer. "I wouldn't worry too much. Rufus is shrewd. He's already looking into other power sources to find and control. The public won't stay mad at him for long. However…Cloud and his entourage might be a problem. Not that I blame them of course. Shin-Ra fucked them over many times. I'm just not looking forward to fighting them."

"Maybe they'll decide to go into hiding…" Johnny suggested.

"That's a possibility I guess. But since they're the heroes of the world I can't really see 'em doing that either. I'm just hoping they think Rufus has learned his lesson and decide to try and live an as normal life as possible."

The two men finished off their meal and beers in silence. Once supper was over Reno threw the food cartons away and recycled the beer bottles. Outside rain began to tap against the front windows and thunder rumbled. Reno got another beer out of the fridge and looked at the clock.

"Almost seven-thirty. If I were you I would consider going to bed soon so you can get up and train."

Johnny nodded and Reno took his beer into his bedroom. The redhead sat cross-legged on his bed and turned the TV on. The brunette watched the storm for a few minutes before going upstairs. He had a quick shower then went to bed. Johnny slept rather well during the night, only being awakened once in a while by a particularly loud thunder.

-----------------------------------

The storm was long gone by five AM but everything was still damp, chilly, and smelled of rain. Reno moaned in near agony as his alarm clock woke him up.

"Stupid training rules…" He muttered, punching the button down.

With a huge yawn the redhead rolled out of bed and changed into clean underwear. He put his usual Turks' suit on and shuffled his way to the kitchen. He was quite surprised to see Johnny standing at the stove making breakfast.

"You didn't have much in the way of food but I did my best." He said, glancing over his shoulder at Reno.

"Coffee." The man replied.

"It just finished brewing." Johnny responded, motioning to the coffee machine.

Reno shuffled over and poured himself a mug of coffee then went to sit on his stool.

"Stupid five AM…" He muttered, sipping his coffee.

Johnny chuckled lightly and served his boss a breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast. Johnny added a fruit salad onto his own breakfast to give him energy to train. The brunette wolfed down his breakfast in record time but it took Reno three cups of coffee before he could even pick up his fork.

Bloody eager recruits…

Reno slowly ate his breakfast and they were on their way out the door by 5:30. The redhead led the newest Turks to the training facility and went inside. There were a few Second Class Soldiers on the obstacle course but that was it.

"Well okay then…" Reno stretched and cracked his knuckles. "Let's get started then."

* * *

I discovered that I get writer's block a lot… XD 


	3. Chapter 3

Reno was timing Johnny while the brunette ran the obstacle course when Rufus was wheeled in by his secretary.

"Sir." Reno said, standing up.

"I need you to gather the Turks together and go on a mission." The President replied.

"But sir…the new recruit has just started training."

"Train him along the way." The President replied. "In any case this won't be a hard mission. Just get him a suit and come to my office for further instructions."

"Yessir." Reno saluted.

The secretary turned Rufus' wheelchair around and wheeled the President out. Reno sighed and turned back to Johnny.

"Johnny! C'mere!"

The brunette was halfway up the climbing wall when Reno called to him. He finished climbing the wall then slid down the other side before running over to Reno.

"What is it?" He asked.

"Orders from the President. We're going to get you a Turks suit then proceed to the Presidential Office for orders." Reno replied.

"But…my training."

"I'll give you pointers on the way. Come on."

Reno grabbed a towel and tossed it at Johnny. The man dabbed the sweat from his forehead then took a sip of his bottled water. He followed Reno outside and down the street.

"Our suits are custom made to fit." Reno said. "But Rufus doesn't really care if you add some personal touches to your uniform…or if you take some off. I refuse to wear a tie and keep my jacket closed. Too restricting."

Johnny just nodded and followed his superior down the road. When they reached the shop it was just opening. The girl who was opening the store smiled and waved at Reno. He nodded and motioned to the door, which she unlocked.

"Who pays for my suit anyway?" Johnny asked.

"Rufus does." Reno replied, going inside the store.

The brunette's eyes widened. He couldn't believe that. He always had to purchase his Soldier uniform with his own money.

Being a Turks definitely has its advantages…

With that thought in mind Johnny walked into the store. Reno was talking to the female clerk and she was nodding.

"Okay Johnny. Stand right here in front of this mirror and I'll measure you." The girl said.

"Uh sure…what's your name?" The man moved to stand in front of the mirror.

"Jade." The clerk replied, getting her tape measure out and taking Johnny's measurements. "When do you need this suit, Reno?"

"Yesterday." The redhead replied.

"A 'rush-rush' deal, huh?"

"Yeah…"

"Uhm…could you make the sleeves a bit wider so I can roll them up to my elbows easily?" Johnny asked.

"Sure thing." Jade replied. "We're in luck. I have a suit that would almost fit you. All I have to do is take in a few places and fix the sleeves. Your suit should be ready in half an hour."

"Should?" Reno repeated.

"Will." Jade corrected herself, blushing. "It will be ready."

"Good girl." The redhead grinned. "Come along, Johnny. We'll get you some goodies while your suit is being made."

Johnny said goodbye to Jade and followed Reno outside once more.

"Are you better with a handgun or shotgun?" Reno asked as they walked along.

"A handgun." Johnny replied.

"You said you had a sword?"

"Yes."

"And you're good with it?"

"Yes." The brunette repeated with a nod.

"And you also have a holder for it which you can strap to yourself?"

"Yes."

"Good."

A bunch of First Class Soldiers jogged passed Reno and Johnny. They saluted as they ran by.

"We outrank them?" Johnny asked, astonished.

"Johnny…we're the President's thug squad, of course we outrank them. Since all of Rufus' lackeys are MIA or dead the only person who outranks us is the President."

"Wow…"

The redhead laughed at the recruit's amazement and made his way into another shop.

"Hey Leto." Reno grinned. "Got a new Turks here for you to accessorise."

Leto nodded and led the two men into his backroom. He gave Johnny a cell phone, handgun, shoulder holster, lighter, sunglasses, and watch.

"Rufus pays for this too." Reno said, seeing Johnny's wide-eyed expression. "Using the cell phone is easy. To reach Rufus dial '#1', I'm '#2', Rude is '#3', Elena is '#4', and you're '#5'…though I doubt you'll ever need to call yourself. Go on. Pick your gadgets up."

The brunette did so. He looked every piece over twice. "Where am I supposed to put all this?"

"Your custom made jacket has places for all of it." Reno explained, looking at his watch. "Speaking of which…it'll be ready by the time we walk back to Jade's place. Thanks for the hook up, Leto."

Leto nodded and the two men left the store. Johnny was slightly overwhelmed with all the going-ons and he also felt slightly nervous. He didn't really like going out into the field with basically no training. However Reno seemed to have some confidence in him which made the man feel somewhat better.

Just as Reno had said Johnny's suit was ready by the time they walked back to Jade's. The brunette went into a dressing room and put the suit on. He looked himself over in the mirror, rolled his sleeves up, and nodded approvingly. He walked back into the store. Jade grinned and Reno whistled.

"Very sharp. Now come here and I'll show you which pocket holds which tool."

After Reno's tutorial Johnny was almost ready to go. They made a quick stop at home to pick Johnny's sword up. The weapon easily fastened to the brunette's hip so it wasn't in the way of his gun holster. Reno looked the man over once more then nodded.

"Yup. You look like a Turks. Let's get going."

As they were walking to the lift Reno phoned Elena and Rude, telling them to meet him outside Rufus' office.

Something tells me I better get used to walking. The Turks don't seem to use that many vehicles…

The two men boarded the lift and made their way to "Upper-upper-upper" Junon otherwise known as "Presidential Junon" where Rufus' temporary office as located.

"Don't stare." Reno said as the lift slowly made its way up.

"Excuse me?" Johnny asked.

"Don't stare at the President's wounds."

"Oh…"

The elevator came to a stop and the two Turks exited. They waited outside Rufus' office for five minutes before Rude and Elena showed up. Elena raised an eyebrow when she saw Johnny decked out in Turks gear and ready to go.

"Doesn't he have to be trained first?" She asked.

"Rufus pre-empted his training." Reno replied. "This must be an important mission."

Rude held his hand out to Johnny and the brunette shook it.

"My name is Randolph but everyone calls me Rude." The man said.

"My name is Johnny." Johnny replied, shaking Rude's hand.

"Elena." Elena said shortly, briefly shaking Johnny's hand.

Reno smirked. He could tell that Elena was a tad miffed about Johnny's training being pre-empted while she, the former secretary of the President, had to endure every second of the hellish training.

"Okay guys. Are we like ready to go and shit?" Reno asked.

"We're ready." Rude replied.

Reno nodded and led his team into Rufus' office…well actually it was his outer office. The blonde's secretary was sitting at her desk, typing away. She looked up briefly and waved them inside. The Turks made their way into Rufus' actual office to find the President looking out the window. One of his many bodyguards was standing right beside him.

"You made good time, Reno. I'm impressed." Rufus said as his bodyguard wheeled him to face the group. "I must say Mr. Williams you clean up nicely. You look impressive as a Turks."

"Thank-you, sir." Johnny replied. I clean up nicely? Did the President just insult me?

"As you know Palmer turned and ran off with his tail between his legs. What we didn't know until this morning was that he took 3 million gil from my company with him. This…is not acceptable."

Johnny nearly shivered at how cold Rufus' voice had gotten but kept himself composed.

"My spies tell me that Palmer is now living it up in Wutai…using my gil. This is also not acceptable."

"You want us to kill him, right?" Reno asked.

"Precisely. Bring back what is left of my gil as well."

"Yessir." The redhead said, saluting.

The other Turks saluted as well and Rufus smiled in purely wicked delight.

"The Gelnika II will be ready to take you to Wutai in forty minutes."

* * *


	4. Chapter 4

Due to sexual content this chapter has been **heavily edited.** If you want the _unedited_ version e-mail me. Since this keeps eating my e-mail address if I put it in with the story you'll have to look my e-mail up on my profile. Or...I could just write it like this. I'm sure you can figure it out: blondehood at yahoo .com

* * *

The Turks turned to go. They were filing out the door when Rufus raised one hand and spoke, 

"You stay behind, Mr. Williams. I wish to speak with you."

Johnny gave Reno a slightly wild-eyed look, but the redhead just grinned and gave him a thumbs-up.

"Close the door on your way out, Reno."

"Yessir."

Reno left, closing the door behind him. Johnny immediately turned to face the President, not wanting to be rude. Rufus nodded to his bodyguards and they left the office through another door, closing it behind them.

"Come here, Mr. Williams. Kneel in front of me so I don't have to look up at you."

"Yessir."

Johnny moved swiftly across the room and kneeled in front of the President. The flames had spared most of Rufus' face, but there were still a few burns on his neck and one visible cheek. Johnny suppressed the urge to shiver as Rufus' one visible eye regarded him intently.

"You were one of the ones who rescued me…so I'm certain you know how badly I'm injured."

Johnny wasn't sure if he should tell the President this or not, but the man was obviously expecting some kind of answer.

"Actually sir… my squad leader, Merrick, was the first on the scene. He found you and…he thought you were already dead, sir. He put his coat over you. So when I arrived with the rest of the squad you were covered up."

To Johnny's surprise his story seemed to amuse the President.

"Go on…" Rufus said.

"It was then that Tawana saw you move slightly. I took your pulse and found a faint but steady one. I carried you out…wrapped in Merrick's jacket. I didn't think it polite or appropriate to gawk at your wounds."

The blonde laughed, "Saved from the incompetence of a squad leader by two of his soldiers. Priceless."

"Sir?"

"Thanks to the Cure treatments I receive daily I will get better…eventually."

"That's good, sir."

Johnny was confused as to why he was here talking with Rufus.

"Thank-you for saving my life."

"You're welcome, sir."

"You can help me again…if you wish…"

"Sir?"

"I'm a man, Mr. Williams and as a man I have…certain needs."

**(Missing sex scene)**

Johnny stood and stiffly walked out of the office. He came face-to-face with a smirking Reno when he left the office. Johnny looked off to the side and blushed slightly. Even though Reno most likely knew what went on he still hoped the redhead wouldn't look down **(edited**).

"Reno! Get in here!" Rufus barked.

Reno's grin widened. "Wait here. I'll be right back."

Johnny nodded and stood out in the hall. He clasped his hands over his groin but tried to make the pose look as casual as possible so he didn't attract unwanted attention. A few Second Class SOLDIERS walked by. They saluted at him but didn't interact otherwise. The brunette just nodded in response to their salute. Only a few minutes had passed when Reno emerged from Rufus' office. He was still grinning and he motioned for Johnny to walk with him down the hall. The brunette did so, **(edited).** Suddenly Reno grabbed him by the arm, yanking him into a darkened doorway.

"What…?"

He was cut off as Reno gently forced him against the wall.

"Rufus told me you…'serviced' him…"

"I…uh…"

Reno chuckled and set one hand on either side of Johnny, trapping the brunette between him and the wall. "Demanding little brat, isn't he?"

"Uhh…" The brunette's mouth opened and closed but no sound came out.

"You don't have to answer that." Reno interrupted, laughing softly.

**(Missing sex scene)**

He was buttoning his pants when he felt Reno's tongue running along the shell of his ear.

"You're delicious." He whispered, biting down softly on Johnny's ear lobe.

"Th-thank-you." Johnny replied.

Reno chuckled, straightened the younger man's jacket, then motioned for Johnny to follow him.

"Uhm?" Johnny held up Reno's handkerchief.

"Toss it in the garbage. I'm too damn lazy to wash it."

Johnny tossed the cloth in the garbage then trotted after Reno down the hall.

"Smoke?" Reno asked.

"No thank-you."

"You're so bloody polite. It's adorable." The redhead said.

"Uhm…thanks." Johnny replied.

Reno pulled a smoke from his pack, setting it between his lips. He lit the white cylinder and inhaled a great deal of smoke before exhaling it out his nose.

"So…uhm…is that why you promoted me?" Johnny asked timidly.

Reno laughed, "Hell no. I honestly thought that if Rufus asked you you'd say no. I told you why I promoted you."

"You said you promoted me because you liked me and you insinuated that you thought I was cute." Johnny reminded his boss.

"Did I?" Reno smirked. "Well I could tell you had weapons skills too you know. It is part of my job to be observant and a good judge of character."

Even though he wasn't sure if Reno was being serious or not Johnny decided to accept that answer. As they passed another doorway Johnny found himself rudely pushed into it and forced up against the wall again. Reno's cigarette was so close to his lips he could feel the heat coming from it. As the redhead spoke the cigarette bobbed up and down, threatening to drop hot ash down Johnny's shirt,

**(edited)**

"Turks are always there to watch the back of a fellow Turks." Reno grinned.

The redhead released Johnny and started walking towards the airport again. It was funny. If any of this had happened with anyone else Johnny probably would have screamed "sexual harassment!" and ran off. But with Reno…and (somewhat) with Rufus he felt comfortable. He had wanted to 'service' the President. He had wanted Reno to touch him. The brunette smirked slightly.

Yup. Things are definitely different in the Turks…

And with that thought in mind Johnny jogged after Reno towards the airport. Their mission was waiting.

* * *

Longest chapter I have EVER written on my own! (bows) Thank-you…thank-you! I love you all! (accepts bouquet of flowers). I'm okay. Really, lol. Yes…Rufus is a control freak. Gotta love him (pets Rufus). 


	5. Chapter 5

Due to sexual content this chapter has been **lightly edited.** If you want the _unedited_ version e-mail me.

* * *

When Reno and Johnny finally reached the airport the Gelnika II was ready to go. They boarded the plane to find Elena and Rude waiting for them. 

"Buckle up. We're ready to fly." The co-pilot said.

Johnny sat down across from Rude. Reno sat beside Johnny and they buckled their seatbelts.

"Where in the hell were you two?" Elena demanded, buckling herself in.

"Presidential orders." Reno replied with a grin.

Rude's eyebrows raised slightly. He tightened his seatbelt then looked up at Johnny briefly before looking over at Reno. Reno nodded in reply to Rude's look. Elena was confused.

"What?" She blinked.

"Never mind. It's a guy thing." Reno replied.

Elena raised one eyebrow as Reno slung his arm casually around Johnny's shoulders, fingers lightly tracing over his collarbone. She looked at Rude but he looked away. Elena's other eyebrow raised, the tips of Rude's ears were red. Rude was…blushing? She looked back at Reno. He was grinning stupidly at her and still touching Johnny's collarbone. The brunette actually seemed to enjoy the contact. In fact she swore he leaned closer to Reno. The plane started moving down the runway.

"Oh gross!" Elena suddenly burst out. "Don't tell me you and the rookie had a go at it in the men's toilet!"

Reno laughed and Johnny blushed. Rude just pretended that his comrades didn't exist at the moment. The pilot blushed too and the Gelnika II started ascending into the sky.

"I can assure you my dear girl that I have not screwed Johnny."

Johnny smiled shyly. He was still blushing.

"Then why is he blushing?"

"Because you used such crude language to voice your greatest fantasy." Reno replied.

"Oh right. It's my fantasy to watch you hump the rookie." Elena retorted, tone dripping with sarcasm.

"Glad you admit it." The redhead said with a smug grin.

Elena made an angry grunt noise and leaned forward, intent on punching that smug grin off Reno's face. Both she and Reno were surprised when Johnny leaned forward and blocked Elena's fist with his arm. Rude decided that this was a good time for his friends to exist again and he set one hand on Elena's shoulder, pulling her back into her seat.

"Reno, lay off. Elena, cool it. Johnny, nice save." He said simply before looking out the window again.

"Yeah, thanks…" Reno purred, leaning over and giving Johnny a kiss/lick on the ear.

"You're welcome." Johnny replied softly.

Elena was horrified, "Oh god. There's two Renos…one with red hair and one with brown."

Reno laughed again, "Johnny is not like me. He's not a sexual deviant. He also doesn't smoke…plus he's shy and polite. Does that sound like me?"

"I stand corrected." Elena muttered.

Reno chuckled evilly and went back to tracing Johnny's collarbone. Rude continued to stare out the window as the plane levelled off. It was a ten hour flight to Wutai.

* * *

Before he told Reno to 'take care' of Johnny Rufus had gotten the redhead to move him back into his wheelchair. The President called in his bodyguards again and they wheeled him over to his paperwork desk. The blonde immediately immersed himself in his work. If he hadn't thoughts of Reno 'taking care' of Johnny somewhere in the hall would invade his mind and he certainly didn't want his bodyguards 'servicing' him if he got horny again. He was halfway through reading a proposal to build a city outside Midgar when there was a knock at the door. 

"Enter." He said.

Rufus looked up and frowned as a nervous squad leader entered the room.

"What is it?" The blonde asked.

The man took a deep breath and saluted, "Squad Leader Dorian Red."

"Yes, yes. What is it?"

"Sir, we made a terrible mistake. Tseng, sir, he is…alive."

Rufus froze and slowly looked up from the proposal, "What?"

One of Rufus' bodyguard visibly shuddered at how dark and cold the blonde's tone had gotten.

Dorian Red fidgeted nervously, "Reeve's robot found Tseng severely wounded in the Temple. When Reeve's first Cait Sith was crushed by the Temple we assumed Tseng met with the same fate."

"But…"

"But today we received a letter from a man in Mideel. A bunch of fishermen saw the Temple shrink and steered closer to the island for a better look. They spotted Tseng lying on the beach and brought him to Mideel. They cared for him but he was hurt badly and fell into a coma. They searched for ID but it must've fallen out of Tseng's jacket and his mobile was smashed. A few days ago Tseng awoke from his coma and was able to tell them who he was so they contacted us."

"So…you let me think that my best Turks was dead…when he was not. A very talented young man was promoted into the Turks. That costs money you know…"

"Sir, I…I'm so sorry." The man nearly whispered.

"Tai, get my shotgun please." Rufus said to his tallest bodyguard.

"No, please don't kill me!" Dorian pleaded.

At those words everyone outside Rufus' office dropped to the ground. Rufus' own secretary tilted her computer monitor down and sat on the floor with the keyboard in her lap. On her first day as Rufus' secretary Helena had learned just how powerful Rufus' shotgun was. The pellets had gone right through the man Rufus shot, through the wall, whizzed not even an inch by her nose, and imbedded themselves into the clock on the wall opposite her desk. Since that day, her first day, if she heard someone pleading with the President she nearly threw herself onto the floor.

"Please…" Dorian whimpered. "I have a family…"

Tai gave the President his shotgun. Rufus could barely lift the heavy weapon but he would never let onto that. One of his weapons experts had rigged the trigger, making it so easy to pull that a baby could have shot the gun. The expert was sworn to secrecy of course. No one was allowed to know that the President was nearly out of commission. Rufus paused slightly and looked Dorian over.

_Hmn. That's true. Dorian is a family man…_

The blonde tried not to kill the subordinates who had families unless he absolutely had to. However that didn't stop him from completely destroying them…

"Fine. Since you have a family I won't kill you. However you've been demoted…five ranks. To advance up the ranks again you will have to impress me three times over. Now…leave my office before I change my mind."

"Yessir! Thank-you sir!" Dorian babbled, running from the office.

"Should we inform the Turks?" Azure, Rufus' second bodyguard, asked.

"Not yet. Elena would probably abandon Wutai and go right to Tseng. I don't want Palmer spending anymore of my money. Inform them tomorrow and send them to pick him up."

"Yessir."

-------------------------------------

They were an hour into their flight. Johnny had his eyes lightly closed and was dozing off slightly when Reno poked him in the side. The brunette opened his eyes and looked over at Reno.

"Come with me. I have to show you something." The redhead said.

"All right."

Reno and Johnny unbuckled their seatbelts and the brunette followed Reno through the curtain into the 'living quarters' part of the plane. Elena was fast asleep on the couch there. Rude was still in his seat doing a crossword puzzle. Reno led Johnny to what looked like a closet and pulled the door open. Inside were 4 black duffel bags. Reno pulled one out and showed it to Johnny.

"This one is yours. Rufus' lackeys prepare it before we go on a mission. Inside you'll find clothes and everything you'll need for the specific mission you're on plus a few backup things just in case you're sent on a spur of the moment mission. All right?"

Johnny nodded and Reno tossed the bag back into the closet.

"There's money in the front compartment of the bag. There's usually enough to last you through the mission but if you need more you'll have to use your own money or beg Rufus for some. Usually he'll give you a little more unless he's pissy."

"Okay."

"Well, I'm going to take a piss and then get a snack. Make yourself at home. If you're tired there's another couch back there somewhere. Bathroom is there and the mini fridge is packed with goodies. Enjoy."

And with that Reno made his way to the washroom. Johnny returned to the seating area and sat back down in his seat. He jumped a bit when Rude suddenly spoke,

"Reno show you your gear?"

"Yes."

"Don't lost any of it. If you do Rufus will chop the cost of replacing it out of your salary…and believe me the gear he buys us ain't cheap."

"I won't lose any of it." Johnny said.

A silence passed between the two men before Rude spoke again.

"So what excuse did he give you?"

"Excuse me?" Johnny blinked.

"Rufus. What excuse did he give you?"

"Oh. Uhm...that he was **(edited)**."

Rude laughed softly, "Well at least he has a valid excuse now."

"What excuse did he give you?" Johnny asked.

"Said he was too busy to find himself someone to court. I could barely keep a straight face when I turned him down and recommended Reno."

"And imagine your surprise when he told you **(edited)**." Reno said, walking into the seating area with a beer in hand.

"Hmn. He actually said he understood why I said no, said he'd ask you, and sent me on my way. Also…" The man eyed Reno's beer. "…we're on duty."

"It's one beer and we have nine hours left on our flight. It's not like I'll be wasted for our mission. No worries, Rude."

"I guess you're right." Rude said, getting up to get a beer of his own. "Want a beer, Johnny?"

"Sure. Thank-you."

Rude nodded and went back into the living quarters. Reno sat beside Johnny and twisted the cap off his beer.

"Normally I wouldn't drink while on duty but it is a friggin' ten hour flight. I'd go squirrelly if I didn't have some form of booze in me."

Johnny smiled softly, "Like the drink, huh?"

"Damn right I do." Reno smirked, taking a sip of his beer. "Booze, sex, cigarettes, money, and the job…as long as the job doesn't interfere with my off-duty slacking."

Rude entered the seating area again and handed Johnny his beer.

"Thanks."

Rude nodded and sat down to open his beer. The three men sat in silence and drank their beers.

"They need to put a TV in this place." Reno muttered after a while.

Rude smirked slightly and pushed his sunglasses up the bridge of his nose. Johnny tilted his head slightly. Now that he thought of it he hadn't seen Rude without his sunglasses on. He wondered if the man wore them at night too.

---------------------------

Another four hours ticked by. Johnny had never been on a plane for so long. It was making him feel twitchy and claustrophobic. Rude looked up from his current crossword to see Johnny twitching in his seat. Rude looked at his watch.

_Five hours. Not bad for a rookie…_

The man looked over at Reno. The redhead was browsing through a gun magazine looking bored. Rude nudged Reno's foot and when the man looked up at him he motioned to Johnny. Reno looked at the brunette then nodded at Rude.

"Relax Johnny." Reno said. "You've been in an assault vehicle for ten hours before."

"Not really. You can stop and get out of an assault vehicle." Johnny replied.

"Come on." Reno stood up and motioned for Johnny to follow him.

The brunette got up and followed his boss. Reno led Johnny back into the living quarters. Elena was now sitting on the couch snacking on grapes and reading a book. She looked up as the pair walked by.

"Feeling twitchy, huh?" She said to Johnny.

Johnny nodded and Elena smiled at him sympathetically. The brunette smiled back wearily then continued to follow Reno. The redhead led him through another curtain, past a couch, and around a corner. When they came to a dead end Reno bent over and opened a hatch in the floor.

"Where are we going?" Johnny asked.

"Down into the helicopter bay." Reno replied. "It's big and open down there. You won't feel as enclosed and you can blow off some steam."

With that Reno swung down into the dark. Johnny peered in to see Reno climbing down a long ladder into a rather spacious looking area. The brunette took a deep breath and climbed onto the ladder. Below him, Reno whistled.

"Nice ass, rookie." Reno grinned.

"So that's why you went first." The brunette joked.

Reno laughed and they continued their descent into the helicopter bay. Once he reached the bottom Johnny had a look around. The Gelnika II had looked big from the outside but not this big. The bay held two helicopters and could probably hold a third with no problem. The bigger of the helicopters had guns mounted on it, the smaller didn't.

"(**edited)?"** Reno purred against Johnny's ear.

"No, I haven't." Johnny replied.

"Mmn. I'll keep that in mind for when we're off-duty." Reno stretched and yawned slightly. "So? Feel better now that you're in a bigger space?"

"Yeah." Johnny nodded. "Much better."

"Come on. We'll go for a walk around the hangar."

Johnny nodded and he went for a walk around the entire bay with his boss. By the time they reached the ladder again he didn't feel twitchy at all anymore.

"Was the first Gelnika like this?" Johnny asked.

"Nah. It didn't have any living quarters. It was strictly a helicopter and cargo plane."

The brunette nodded and looked around the hangar again.

"You ready to go back topside?"

"Yeah. You go first this time."

Reno smirked and started climbing the ladder. Johnny climbed up after him. He mimicked the redhead's earlier whistle.

"Nice ass, boss." He said.

"Why thank-you, rookie." Reno replied, laughing.

Johnny smiled softly and they climbed up the ladder and out of the hatch. Reno closed and locked the hatch and the pair made their way back to the seating area. Rude was done all the crosswords in his book and was now sitting there patiently. Elena was sitting beside him, still reading her book. Johnny and Reno took their seats. The brunette felt a little more twitchy again in the smaller space but he took a deep breath and calmed himself. Reno gently squeezed Johnny's shoulder and smiled.

"You're doing good, Johnny."

--------------------------------------

Johnny nearly cheered when the plane started to make its landing outside Wutai. He tightened his seatbelt and hung onto the arm rests.

"Better get used to flying fast, Johnny." Elena said. "We fly a lot."

"And go by boat." Rude said, "It's a good way to find out if you get sea sickness or not…"

Reno chuckled, "We have to pretty much hike to Wutai. Rufus doesn't want Palmer seeing a Shin-Ra plane and running off."

"Goody." Elena replied.

With a bump and a thump the Gelnika II landed in a field outside Wutai.

"What time is it?" Reno asked.

Rude looked at his watch, "Almost five-thirty p.m."

"Damn." The redhead murmured. "It always seems like such a waste…spending all that time sitting on our asses."

"Like you've ever had a problem with that." Elena remarked.

Reno glowered at the woman and unbuckled his seatbelt, standing up. "Let's get a move on."

The other Turks stood up and followed Reno. They got their gear ready and Rude opened the Gelnika II's door, swinging a rope ladder out of it.

"This thing needs a built-in stair case…" Elena muttered, making sure her duffel bag was strapped securely to her person before she started climbing down the ladder.

"Here." Reno handed a pistol to Johnny. "You're not allowed to use your sword until you're evaluated by one of Rufus' experts."

Johnny nodded and left his sword on the plane. Once they were all on the ground Reno attached his nightstick to his wrist. Both Elena and Rude tensed. Johnny was puzzled.

"All right. We're ready to go kill some ass!" Reno exclaimed, swinging his nightstick out wildly.

Elena ducked, Rude side-stepped, and Johnny got whacked right in the face with the metal rod.

"Ooh…damn…" Rude muttered.

"Sorry Johnny. We forgot to tell you that Reno gets a little er… excited once in a while." Elena said.

When he had been struck Johnny had stumbled away from the group like a punch-drunk boxer. He was now bracing himself against the Gelnika II and nursing his bruising and cut cheekbone. He looked up at Elena and Rude, nodding stiffly. Reno was oblivious to all this until he turned around and noticed the small drops of blood running down Johnny's cheek.

"Oh hell. Did I whack you?" He asked somewhat sheepishly.

Johnny nodded. His face still had a grimace of pain on it. Reno walked over to Johnny and released his nightstick so it just dangled from his wrist. He gently took Johnny's face in his hands and examined the brunette's injury.

"Sorry." He said.

Elena's mouth dropped open slightly as Reno literally licked Johnny's cut. Rude just smirked and waited for Reno to be done 'apologizing'. Johnny blushed slightly, pain forgotten, as he felt Reno's tongue lap at his cut.

"Feel better?" The redhead asked, licking his lips.

"Amazingly enough, yes." Johnny replied. "Thank-you."

"No problem." Reno said, looking at Rude. "Use Cure on his pretty face, eh? Don't want to leave a scar."

Rude nodded and cast Cure on Johnny. The cut and bruising flesh healed and Johnny wiped the remaining blood off his cheek with his sleeve.

"Thank-you Rude."

Rude nodded and smiled slightly in reply.

"Okay. Are we like ready to go now?" Reno asked.

The three Turks nodded and they set off. Wutai wasn't that far off but it was still quite a hike. It took them an hour and a half to reach the small resort town. Reno's stomach growled loudly and he patted it gently.

"Find out what Fatman is doing tonight then, if time allows it, we'll get something to eat. Rookie, you're with me. And use bribes before force, people. Don't tip Palmer off."

Everyone nodded and fanned out. Elena made her way to the fanciest restaurant while Rude checked out the bar that was popular with Shin-Ra employees. Reno and Johnny went to the most expensive hotel Wutai had. They entered the lobby and Reno looked around.

"Give me your gear, Johnny."

Johnny did so and Reno opened the front compartment. He rumpled through it then handed the brunette five-hundred gil.

"All right, the records Rufus had said that the fatass was staying here. You need to bribe the clerk into telling you what Palmer plans to do tonight. Okay?"

"What if he wants more than five-hundred?" Johnny asked.

"Quietly threaten to shoot him in the head." Reno replied. "If that doesn't work grab him by the shirt and yank him around a little. That usually scares answers out of people."

The brunette nodded a little warily. Reno grinned widely at him.

"You'll do fine, Johnny. Make me proud."

"I'll try…" Johnny cut off as Reno gave him a look. "I will."

"That's my boy. Remember, his name is Palmer Orion."

"Got it."

Johnny rolled the bills of gil up and stuffed them into one of the inside pockets in his coat. He approached the front desk and cleared his throat a bit. The clerk looked up at him.

"Can I help you?" He asked in a rather haughty tone.

"Yes, you can." Johnny replied. "You can tell me what Palmer Orion is doing tonight."

"I'm sorry sir. Those records are confidential."

"Are they now?"

The clerk's eyes widened when Johnny reached into his pocket and pulled out the fat roll of bills. His eyes went wider and wider as Johnny counted off each gil.

"Five-hundred. Tell me…what he has planned for tonight." Johnny said, flashing the cash at the clerk but keeping it hidden from other people in the lobby.

"H-he's booked one of our Jacuzzi rooms for tonight at…" The man trailed off as he checked in his book. "Ten p.m."

"Let me see that for myself."

"B-but."

"Show me the damn book." Johnny said, tone lowering.

The clerk handed the book to Johnny with shaking hands. The brunette read it. "Palmer Orion" had indeed booked a Jacuzzi room for ten p.m. The clerk wasn't giving him the run around.

"Thank-you for your cooperation." Johnny said, handing the book and the money to the clerk.

"Y-you're welcome."

As he turned away Johnny could barely stop himself from letting out a huge sigh of relief. He had honestly thought that the tough guy act wouldn't have worked but it did. He returned to Reno and smiled lightly.

"Did I do good, boss?" He asked.

"Yes. Very good for your first time. Your cherry has officially been popped, rookie." Reno smirked. "Come on. Let's see if Rude and Elena found anything out."

They found Rude waiting at one of the bridges over the river that ran through town but Elena wasn't back yet.

"Learn anything?" Reno asked.

"Just that Palmer ran up a drink tab that'll make Rufus tear his hair out." Rude replied. "You?"

"Palmer booked one of the hotel's Jacuzzi rooms for tonight." Johnny replied.

Rude nodded and the three men waited for Elena while keeping a lookout for Palmer. A few minutes later Elena returned.

"I went to all three restaurants that Palmer used Rufus' money at. He made reservations at the Stone Lotus tonight at seven o'clock."

"Hmn." Reno considered his options. "Tonight…ten o'clock. We'll turn Palmer into a roast pig. Now…let's get some food. I'm starving."

**TBC **

* * *

Holy crap another long chapter. This is both good news and bad news. Good news because I'm actually writing and updating my story…bad news because I have a horrible feeling that I'll suddenly hit writer's blockXP (/paranoid babblings). R&R please :) 


	6. Chapter 6

Death and implied underage sex (abuse) warning.

* * *

Those who survived Mideel being swallowed by the Lifestream stayed on the island. They set up a little tent city close to the beach where their fishing boats were and called it both "home" and "Mideel". No one went near the site of the old Mideel. Lifestream still bubbled up through the grass there sometimes. One day a child found a puddle of Lifestream that looked like black sludge. After that day everyone moved as far away from the old Mideel site as they could.

The Lifestream was bubbling and churning now. The earth trembled but only a Cetra could feel it shudder. Out of the bright emerald liquid of the Lifestream a bubble of black sludge arose. The bubble rolled lazily out of the Lifestream and across the grass. It popped, depositing a baby into the grass. A baby with a tuft of silver hair and bright green eyes.

It was cold but the baby didn't notice. He just stared up at the sky, kicking his legs once in a while.

"Lozzzzz…" A female voice whispered in the baby's mind.

* * *

While the Turks were eating at a modest little restaurant beside the lavish one Palmer had reservations at Reno got a call from the pilot of the Gelnika II. Apparently their storage fuel tanks had sprung a leak so they had no reserves to refuel the plan on. So, with what little fuel they had left, they were going to fly to Rocket Town and refuel there. They were probably going to fix the storage tanks too. So in short the Turks were stuck in Wutai until morning.

"Great." Elena said when Reno hung up.

"Hey, it's not so bad." Reno replied. "We have plenty of mission money left and Wutai has some awesome hot springs."

Elena nodded and sighed softly. It felt kind of weird being here. Tseng had been born here. Johnny finished off his dumplings and patted his full stomach. Authentic Wutain food was way better than the stuff Reno ordered in Junon.

Once everyone was done Reno paid the check and they all pitched in to leave their waiter a generous tip.

"Okay. Let's go find a place to stay."

Reno was determined to stay at a hotel that had _real_ hot springs. He dragged them all over Wutai until someone finally told him there was a hotel at the base of Da-chao Mountain that had hot springs. _Real_ ones. They got directions and found the hotel with no problem.

"I'm surprised Fatman didn't book a room here." Reno said.

"Maybe he's just not a natural hot spring fanatic." Elena replied.

Reno glared at Elena, the woman smirked back, Johnny and Rude exchanged glances. Reno made his way to the front desk and got a price quote. After that he walked back to his comrades.

"We can only afford to give up enough money for two rooms." He said.

"I'm not bunking with you." Elena replied.

"Fine with me. I'll bunk with Johnny." Reno glanced at the brunette, "If that's okay."

"It's fine." Johnny replied.

"You know he's just going to molest you." Elena said to Johnny.

Reno feigned surprise and hurt, "Why Elena, how could you say such a thing? I would never molest Johnny…without his permission."

Elena shook her head in disgust. Rude and Johnny just smirked. The redhead grinned widely and returned to the front desk to book two rooms. The clerk gave him the keys and Reno returned to his fellow Turks, giving Elena and Rude their keys.

"Let's get our gear put away then we'll go scope out these 'Jacuzzi rooms'."

The foursome made their way down the hall to find their rooms. They soon discovered they were right across from each other.

"Try not to make him howl too loudly, Reno." Elena said, unlocking her door and heading inside.

"Suck my balls." Reno muttered.

"What was that?"

"I said, suck my balls!"

Elena shot Reno a dirty look, Johnny blushed, and Rude was already in "my friends currently don't exist" land.

"Let's just…check out the room, Reno." Johnny said, smiling shyly.

Reno smirked and unlocked the door, going inside. Elena sighed and walked into her room, Rude following behind her.

"Oh look, only one bed." Reno grinned.

Johnny chuckled and shook his head, "Reno…?"

"Yeah?"

"Sorry if this is a personal question but do you…not like Elena?"

The man laughed, "I can see why you'd ask that and the answer is I do like her. Elena may dislike me a little bit but we're still friends. We just like to give each other a hard time."

"Oh. All right." Johnny replied with a nod.

"It's when Elena and I are giving each other the silent treatment that you should worry. Honestly I think Elena and I have a little mix of masochist and sadist in us."

Johnny laughed lightly and nodded, setting his duffel bag in a chair.

"Don't bother unpacking. We won't be here long enough."

"Okay."

Reno hefted his bag onto the bed and the pair left their room. They met Elena and Rude outside and headed for Palmer's hotel.

"Stop." Reno held his hand up. "Fatman is leaving the hotel."

The Turks slipped into the darkness of a side alley and watched as Palmer left the hotel and waddled off.

"Y'know…it looks like Palmer's gotten chubbier." Elena remarked.

"Must be all that rich food he's buying with Rufus' money." Reno replied.

"Don't forget all those fancy, imported beers he's been buying." Rude said.

"He's damn lucky Rufus is too weak to move." Elena said. "Otherwise the President probably would have taken care of Palmer himself."

"Enough chat. Let's get a move on." Reno ordered.

The redhead made sure Palmer was out of sight before he left the side alley and headed for the hotel. Elena, Johnny, and Rude followed after him. Reno entered the hotel to see that the male clerk was nowhere in sight. Instead a female clerk was sitting behind the desk.

_Can't spare anymore money. Gotta think fast._

"Good evening madam." Reno smiled charmingly at the clerk. "My associates and I are scouting hotels for our boss. He will be here on business next week."

Rude, Elena, and Johnny stepped up behind Reno. The clerk looked them over and nodded.

_Heh. People will believe anyone in a suit._

"Our boss loves to relax in a Jacuzzi after a long day and we've heard that your facilities are the best. Could we possibly get a tour?"

The woman grinned broadly, "Yes, yes of course! Follow me right this way! MEIKO! Come watch the front desk while I give these nice people a tour!"

_And people will bend over backwards for you if you're rich…or they think you are…_

As the clerk lead them through the hotel Elena moved to walk beside Reno.

"Posing as someone else instead of just sneaking over the fence? This is not like you, Reno." She whispered.

"Well since I ordered Johnny to intimidate the other clerk I figured hotel security would be stepped up and… voila…" He nodded at two security personnel. "Couldn't afford to be caught."

"And what about tonight?"

"Security will have calmed by then. Trust me."

"Here we are." The clerk said.

She had lead them into a huge, open courtyard dotted with what looked like tiny houses. Reno peered into one of the "tiny house"'s windows to see a hot tub inside.

"So their Jacuzzi rooms are actually Jacuzzi…houses." Johnny murmured to him.

Reno nodded and looked the building over, memorizing its details.

"Oh these are the facilities for our more… common guests." The woman said. "Our V.I.P. facility is this way."

The female clerk led them down a path to the center of the courtyard. A bigger 'room' lay here. Reno smirked. This was definitely something Palmer would book.

"Besides the hot tub our V.I.P. room features a sauna and a mini bar." The hostess babbled on.

Reno looked the building over then looked at its surroundings, logging everything away in his mind. Once the clerk was done with her little speech Reno thanked her for the tour and the Turks left.

"All right. Back to the hotel, get drinks, and discuss what we observed." Reno said.

Still on the lookout for Palmer the Turks walked back to their hotel and got a table at the "Water Stone Bar". They ordered beer and talked while they waited.

"So? What'd we learn…Rude?"

"The V.I.P. Jacuzzi room, Palmer's most likely choice, has two exits. One in the sauna and one in the actual hot tub room. The commons only have one exit."

"Elena?"

"The V.I.P. building has four windows and the commons have two. It doesn't matter which way Palmer is facing. We will always have at least one window to look through undetected."

"Johnny?"

"The entire courtyard is surrounded by chain link fence with barbed wire curved outwards along the top. However there is a hole in the fence big enough for us to squeeze through behind 'common' Jacuzzi room number five."

"And what did you learn Reno?" Elena asked.

"With coworkers like you I won't need to lift a finger."

"Gee, I feel special."

"And you should."

The banter probably would have continued had the bar hostess not brought their drinks. Johnny twisted the cap off his beer then froze slightly. There was a hand on his thigh. Reno's hand. Rude held his beer up and Elena and Reno clinked their bottles against his.

"Cheers." Reno said, sipping his beer.

Rude looked expectantly at Johnny, "You too, rookie. Don't be shy."

"Oh!" Johnny blushed, breaking himself out of his freeze. "Sorry…!"

Johnny clinked his beer against Rude's while his other hand smacked Reno's wandering hand. The redhead chuckled and Elena gave him the eye. He grinned at her and slung one arm around Johnny's shoulders.

"Must you always manhandle the rookie?" She asked.

"Does it bother you, Johnny?" Reno replied, looking at Johnny.

_As long as it's above the waist right now…_ "No."

"Sorry Elena. You lose."

"Jackass."

"Thank-you."

After that the Turks finished off their drinks in peace. Reno wanted to order more but Rufus would barbecue his ass if he got drunk on the job. And so the only thing to do was to go back to their rooms and wait until ten o'clock.

_How boring. But…then again…_ Reno admired Johnny's backside as he followed the brunette down the hall, _I'm sure I can think of **some **way to entertain myself… _

Elena cast a sympathetic glance at Johnny as she and Rude headed into their room.

"Don't feel too sorry for him, Elena." Rude said. "Reno doesn't do anything that the other person doesn't want."

"But still…who'd want to be touched by Reno?" She joked.

* * *

"So…" Reno sat on the bed. "Where were you born?"

"Sector 6 slums." Johnny replied. "You?"

"The town under Junon. No one remembers its name anymore. Not even me. Got any living relatives?"

"Yeah. My mom and my little brother live in Kalm. I sent them there the minute I had saved up enough money. The Midgar slums aren't safe for a widow and her eight year old son. What about you? Have a mom?"

Reno shook his head, "Dad died in the War on Wutai. Mom and older sister died when dangerous amounts of Mako leaked into the drinking water. Myself and three other kids were the only ones that survived that…"

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"I got over it…eventually…"

"My father died in the War on Wutai too."

The redhead nodded, "A lot of fathers did."

"That was the one thing I'll never understand. All these soldiers fall. They send Sephiroth in and he decimates all of Wutai…by himself in a span of two hours. Why didn't they just send him in first?"

"I dunno." Reno replied. "I never understood that either."

Johnny looked at the clock. It was eight o'clock. They had two hours to kill.

"Nervous about your first hit?" His boss asked.

"Yeah."

"Don't be. Rude and I will hold your hand through the whole thing. Metaphorically of course…"

Johnny smiled and Reno got his nightstick out. Some of Johnny's blood was dried on the tip. The redhead pulled a cloth out and cleaned the blood off.

"How's your cheekbone?"

"All better." Johnny replied.

The brunette froze slightly as Reno leaned in close and examined him.

"Hmn…"

Johnny shivered as one of Reno's fingers traced over his cheekbone.

"I can see a very thing, white scar. It'll probably fade in time…"

"It's all right. I have scars other places."

"Anywhere interesting?" Reno grinned.

Johnny chuckled softly, "I have a scar on my right shoulder blade, right hip bone, and my left kneecap."

"Battle scars, huh?"

"Yeah except for the one on my kneecap. That's a basic training scar."

"Can I see 'em?"

"Maybe later." Johnny smirked.

Reno smirked back, "I'll hold you to that."

"Do you have any scars, Reno?"

"Yeah. I've got a healed over bullet hole in my shoulder. That's all though."

"So…these are tattoos?" Johnny ran the tip of his finger along one of the markings on Reno's face.

"Yeah. Got 'em when I was drunk, decided they looked cool when I sobered up so…I kept 'em."

"They suit you…" He traced the other mark.

"Thank-you."

Johnny sat on the bed and rubbed the back of his neck. Reno grinned slightly. The brunette was still nervous.

"You'll do fine, Johnny."

--------------------------------

Once ten o'clock rolled around Reno was outside smoking. Johnny was going through his gear. There was a knock at the door. The brunette got up and swung the door open. Rude was standing there.

"Time to go." He said.

Johnny nodded. Reno re-entered the room and picked his nightstick up.

"Bring rubber, a tarp, NVG(1), and shovels. Tell Elena too." He said.

The taller man nodded and walked off. Johnny looked at Reno, confused.

"Bring rubber means rubber boots and gloves. They're in with your gear." Reno explained.

"Oh."

Johnny and Reno dug what they needed out of their bags and then they were on their way.

The sun had set long ago. The street lights burned dimly and the paper lanterns that nearly every building had cast colored light over the ground.

"Wutai is beautiful at night…" Elena murmured, watching the distant crowds in the marketplace.

"Focus Elena. You can get all femmy and sappy later." Reno said.

Reno grunted when Elena punched him sharply in the kidneys. "What did I tell you about being a sexist pig?"

Johnny looked at Rude, wide-eyed. Rude just smiled and shrugged. He was used to Reno and Elena beating on each other. The redhead straightened his coat and headed for Palmer's hotel. He knew ignoring Elena's outburst would piss her right off. It did. She stormed after Reno, Rude and Johnny followed.

As Reno had earlier predicted hotel security was now rather calm and lax. There had been one guard patrolling the lobby and no one was guarding the nearly dark courtyard. Elena perched her NVG up on her head.

"Not one guard or floodlight. I'm…amazed." She whispered.

"I'm not." Rude said. "This is the time of night when the CEOs are all having sex with their prostitutes in the hot tub. The hotel wants their clients to feel like they have privacy…"

"So that probably means there's no night vision cameras hanging around either." Elena replied.

"Doubt it. Lots of important people check in here. They don't want anything incriminating on tape so the hotel bends to their will and doesn't put up cameras."

The Turks crept quietly along the fence. They found the hole Johnny had seen earlier and squeezed through. Four of the 'common' Jacuzzi rooms seemed to be in use. They checked them all. Just as Rude said before…CEOs and their hookers. No Palmer. They stayed in the shadows and headed down towards the V.I.P. room. They reached the larger room in time to see Palmer enter it. Elena made her way to the nearest window and peered in. A small surprised noise sounded in her throat.

"Do you…see what I see?" She frowned.

"Four girls…no older than ten in the hot tub…" Reno murmured. "Palmer youdisgusting perv. Rubber boots and gloves on. Elena, you and Johnny go in through the main entrance, Rude and I will go in through the sauna."

The Turks nodded and put their rubber boots and gloves on.

"Reno." Rude said.

"Yeah?"

"Unhook your nightstick from your wrist."

"Heh…oops…" Reno grinned and unstrapped his weapon.

"You're going to electrocute yourself one of these days you dumb fuck." Rude chuckled.

"Just be ready with a Phoenix Down when I do." The redhead replied. "Come on. Let's go."

The Turks split off and headed for their assigned entrance. They timed their entrance perfectly. Not even a few seconds after Johnny and Elena burst through the main entrance Reno and Rude came in through the sauna. Palmer and the girls jumped and the man immediately started babbling.

"Rude, hold the pervert down." Reno ordered.

Rude nodded and swiftly walked up behind Palmer. He set his hands on the man's shoulders, holding him in a sitting position in the water. Elena was already helping the girls out of the hot tub, not really caring that she was getting soaked.

"Elena…take them out of here."

Elena nodded. She wrapped each girl in a towel before leading them out.

"Screwing little girls, Palmer?" Reno shook his head. "That's sick. Just fucking sick…"

Rude made a noise of disgust/agreement in his throat. Reno leaned against the edge of the Jacuzzi.

"There was always something intensely creepy about you, Fatman. I just couldn't figure it out until now. You're a pedophile. Not only will Rufus be happy when I kill you…the world will be a safer place for little girls."

"Reno please…" Palmer whimpered. "Remember I-I gave you half of the four thousand gil I stole from Scarlet's account!"

The redhead laughed, "My loyalty to Rufus cannot be derailed by the fact you gave me chump change from some dumb skank's account a year ago! Rufus wants you dead so I'm gonna kill you."

Johnny nearly winced as Reno smacked Palmer across the face with his nightstick. The man whimpered and tried to move but Rude held him down more firmly, his gloved fingers digging into Palmer's flesh. If Rude didn't want you to move…you didn't.

"Come here, Johnny." Reno said.

Johnny walked over and stood facing Reno. The older man whirled Johnny around and pulled the brunette against him tightly.

"We're going to pop another cherry, rookie. You're going to help me end his miserable life."

Johnny nodded.

"Put your hand on mine."

The brunette did so and he and Reno submerged the end of the redhead's nightstick into the hot tub. Palmer whimpered and tried to wiggle away from Rude again. The redhead pressed a button on his nightstick then slid it forward, turning the electricity up as high as it would go. Rude let go of Palmer a few seconds before the powerful electric current ripped through the water. Reno's free arm encircled Johnny's waist and the Turks watched as Palmer flailed about in the electrified water like some kind of grotesque bath toy. Once smoke started to rise from Palmer's skin Reno slid the button back into its original place and released it. The electricity died off and Palmer slumped forward, floating face down in the hot tub.

"If you have to toss your cookies no one will think less of you." Reno whispered into Johnny's ear.

The redhead released Johnny and made his way over to Rude.

"Drain the hot tub and bring in a tarp. I want to get Palmer buried before the sun rises."

Rude nodded and went about draining the hot tub.

"Get me a tarp, Johnny. There's one outside."

Johnny nodded then stopped short. "Rude?"

"Yes?"

"Where do you think…those girls came from?"

"I don't know. Elena will find out probably. I can't see her just letting something like that go."

The brunette nodded slowly and went outside. Reno was standing in the dark, having a smoke. All Johnny could see was the cigarette's glowing end.

"How're you doing, rookie?"

"Better than I thought I would be." Johnny saw a folded green tarp on the ground and picked it up.

"You're fairing well." Reno said. "I think you'll make a fine Turks."

"Thank-you…"

Johnny returned to the hot tub which was almost drained. All the water was running into a drain in the center of the room.

"Unfold the tarp and lay it down there."

Johnny did as Rude asked. Reno re-entered the room just as the water finished draining.

"I'm a dumb fuck." Reno said. "We should've taken fatass out of the tub before we drained it."

"Yeah. I thought of that when it was too late." Rude replied.

Johnny scratched the back of his head. He hadn't thought of that at all.

"Well…looks like we're going to get dirty, boys." Reno said, nose wrinkling in disgust.

"Great." Rude replied.

Rude, Reno and Johnny spent the next forty minutes hefting and rolling Palmer's body out of the Jacuzzi. They nearly dropped it once and Johnny was turning greener and greener. They finally managed to set Palmer on the tarp and Johnny ran outside to vomit into the bushes. Elena patted him on the back gently as she passed by and entered the Jacuzzi room.

"Help Rude roll Palmer up." Reno said.

Elena nodded and went to help. Reno went about the task of cleaning the hot tub out and getting it set up again. The hose the staff used to fill the hot tub was in a locked compartment but Elena briefly stopped helping Rude to pick the lock for Reno. Palmer was wrapped and ready to go and Reno was filling the hot tub when Johnny walked back in. Elena smirked and handed him a stick of gum which he chewed eagerly, grateful to get the icky taste out of his mouth.

"You did well." She said, smiling lightly.

"Thanks." Johnny nodded.

"I found Palmer's room key. I'm going to get his stuff and check him out." Rude said.

"Your voice is too deep to be Palmer's. Take Elena with you and have her use her man voice to phone the front desk."

"My man voice is an imitation of you y'know." Elena grinned.

"I realize that thank-you." Reno replied.

Elena chuckled and she and Rude set off to get Palmer's stuff and check him out.

"Someone is going to get a slimy, cold surprise when they use this tub but at least it doesn't have chunkies of flesh floating in it…"

Reno put the hose away and made sure the compartment locked again.

"Okay. We've got everything we need. Let's go."

Reno took one end of the tarp and Johnny took the other. They grunted and groaned and moved the body outside.

"We're going to have to cut a damn huge hole in the fence to get him through…" Reno muttered.

They picked up the body again and headed back to the hole in the fence. It was really dark and neither was wearing their NVG so they kept tripping over things, but they made it. Reno was using his wire cutters to widen the hole in the fence when Elena and Rude joined them.

"We checked Palmer out and took all his stuff." Elena said. "Rude has Palmer's account card. Rufus can drain what's left of his money out of the account."

Reno nodded and they squeezed Palmer's wrapped up body through the hole in the fence. The man's large body was easier to carry with four people and they headed into the woods behind the hotel.

"Thank god they constructed a little forest behind their hotel. I really didn't want to walk to the edge of town with Fatman." Reno grumbled.

Rude pulled two shovels from his bag and he and Johnny set to work digging. They took turns digging until they had a fairly large and deep hole. They rolled Palmer's body into it then dumped all his belongings on top of him.

"Fucking pedophile." Reno muttered as he started to fill the hole.

It was nearly one in the morning by the time the hole was filled, the dirt patted down, and the fake slabs of grass put back and neatly pressed together. However their effort was worth it. It didn't look like the dirt had been disturbed at all.

They trudged back to their hotel, sore and dirty.

"Ah yes…the wonders of being a Turks." Elena sighed ever-so-sarcastically.

"Now do you see why I chose a hotel with hot springs?" Reno grinned.

Everyone walked back to their room and Reno showed Johnny his 'laundry baggie'.

"Just shove your dirty suit and gear in here." He said, handing Johnny the big, plastic baggie. "There's a back-up suit in your duffel bag. You'll have to clean your other one when you have time."

Johnny nodded and took his baggie from Reno. He took all of his gadgets and other things out of his pockets before shrugging off his muddy coat and dropping it into the baggie.

"Since we're getting half naked…can I see your scars?"

Johnny smiled crookedly and nodded. "Sure. Come here."

Reno pulled his coat off and started unbuttoning his shirt as he walked over to Johnny. The brunette unbuttoned his shirt and shrugged it off his shoulders.

"There's a scar on my right shoulder blade. It's not very visible though…"

Reno leaned in close. There was a long white scar curved along Johnny's shoulder blade. "Yeah, I see it. Want to see my bullet hole?"

"Sure."

Johnny turned and Reno showed the man his only battle scar.

"Some fanatic shot at Rufus and I took the bullet. They had to dig it out of my shoulder."

The brunette examined the circle of ridged flesh on Reno's shoulder. "It looks…neat."

Reno chuckled, "Thanks."

Johnny blushed slightly as he and Reno removed their pants.

"Better get used to seein' me in my underwear, rookie." Reno teased.

Johnny laughed then pointed to a small, yet visible scar on his kneecap. "That's the scar I got from basic training. I fell on the obstacle course."

The blush on Johnny's cheeks intensified as Reno stepped close and hooked one finger into the band of his underwear, pulling them down just far enough to see the scar on his hip bone.

"This one is fading." Reno murmured.

"Yeah."

Reno released Johnny's underwear and sat on the bed to pull his socks off. Johnny headed to his duffel bag.

"If you're coming in the hot springs don't get dressed yet." Reno said. "They always forget to pack us swimsuits. We gotta sit around in our underwear."

"Guess I'll have to remember to always wear underwear." Johnny muttered before he could stop himself.

Reno laughed, "That's a sexy mental image, Johnny."

"Shut up." Johnny blushed.

The redhead laughed again. "Come on. I need a soak."

Johnny nodded. He pulled his socks off and followed Reno out into the hallway. The brunette was glad it was so late. There were no other guests up and about to see them running around in their underwear. Elena and Rude emerged from their room in their underwear too. Elena was wearing a baggy shirt that covered her though.

"You're a pussy, Elena." Reno teased.

The woman smirked, "Suck my non-existent balls, Reno."

"Maybe later."

Elena laughed and set off down the hall. The three men followed her outside. They had to climb a small set of stairs carved into the side of the mountain before they reached a fenced-in, well-lit area. Reno stuck his toe in the nearest hot spring and grinned.

"Oh yeah, baby. Heaven."

The redhead slipped into the spring and sat down with a long sigh. Elena joined him shortly after. Johnny dipped his toe in then joined his comrades, sitting on Reno's other side. Rude sat on the edge of the hot spring with his feet dangling in the hot water.

"Don't be a pussy, Rude. Get in." Reno smirked.

Rude didn't reply…verbally anyway. Instead he extended his middle finger, briefly flipping Reno off. Johnny smiled crookedly. He noticed that Rude was still wearing his sunglasses.

_I guess that answers my earlier question about if he wears them at night…_

Elena wet her hair then leaned back with a content sigh. "Okay, I admit it…it was worth you dragging us all around town."

"I rock." Reno replied smugly.

Once Rude got used to the temperature he joined his friends in the water. Johnny felt much better than he did before. He felt the tension and ache in his muscles melt away.

"So Elena…where'd Palmer pick the kiddies up from?" Reno asked.

"The girls told me that he 'rented' them from their orphanage. Said that their matron has 'rented' them out to quite a few people before. Can you believe that? Bloody disgusting. I dropped them off at a Temple where they'd be safe…then I went to the orphanage and threatened to blow the matron away."

"Think she got the point?" Rude asked.

"She had better of." Elena replied. "I'm taking my vacation days to come back here and check up on her."

"Fight the good fight, princess." Reno smirked.

Elena chuckled and splashed the redhead slightly. After that the Turks slipped into a comfortable silence and they sat there enjoying the hot spring and the quiet night.

Rude was the first one to head off to bed. He didn't like to get pruney. It was some quirk he'd had since he was a kid. Elena was the next to leave. She had been dozing off right there in the water.

"So? What'd you think of your first day as a Turks?" Reno asked.

"It was…interesting. Certainly an emotional rollercoaster."

"I think you'll do well, Johnny."

"Thank-you."

Johnny wet his hair and slicked it back. Reno took his goggles off and unbound his ponytail.

"Damn…haven't done that in a while." He smirked, setting his goggles and hair elastic at the edge of the spring.

Reno submerged himself completely underwater, feeling the small current run through his hair. The redhead surfaced and slicked his hair back before leaning against the edge of the spring.

"Well…I'm going to head back to the room."

Reno nodded and Johnny got out of the water. He shivered. It was chilly being out of the water. The brunette headed back to the room he shared with Reno.

The redhead stayed in the water for twenty minutes before he finally willed himself to move. He probably could've just slept there but he didn't want to pass up a chance to bunk with Johnny. Reno picked up his goggles and put his hair elastic back in before getting out of the spring and heading back into the hotel. He entered their room. It was dark but there was a light on in the bathroom. The bathroom door was open just slightly and Reno peeked into to see Johnny standing at the sink brushing his teeth…completely naked.

_Damn former President Shin-Ra and his 'no humping while on duty' rule. Maybe I can convince Rufus to throw his old man's rule out…_

Reno retreated to his duffel bag before he was caught staring. He found a clean and dry pair of underwear in his bag and pulled them out.

"Just about done in there?" He asked.

"Y-yeah." Johnny replied, sounding embarrassed.

A few minutes later Johnny emerged from the bathroom in his own pair of clean underwear. Reno was slightly disappointed but didn't let it show.

_Oh well. At least I got to see his lovely ass…_

"Bathroom is all yours."

"Thanks."

Reno entered the washroom and peeled his wet boxers off. He dried off and changed. The redhead took the toothbrush that was packed for him out of its plastic wrapping and brushed his teeth. With a yawn Reno exited the bathroom, turning the light off. Johnny left the curtains open so the room was bathed in grey moonlight. The redhead slipped into bed and yawned again. He looked Johnny over. The brunette was lying on his side, facing away from him.

"Hey Johnny…"

"Mmn?"

"Want to be all domestic like and spoon?"

Johnny smiled softly, "Sure."

Reno smirked and pulled Johnny close to him, spooning against the younger man. He decided to press his luck and gently ran his hand down Johnny's abdomen. The brunette's hand settled on top of Reno's. The man expected Johnny to stop him, not slide his hand further downwards. Reno forced himself to stop once his fingertips brushed against the band of Johnny's boxer briefs.

"Reno…"

_Bloody hell…_ Reno bit into his lip harshly and he ignored the throb between his legs that answered Johnny's whimper.

"Sorry rookie…" The redhead murmured. "Can't hump while we're on duty. I don't know why…guess if you're thinking about the great sex you had last night instead of the job that can distract you…"

Johnny laughed softly. "So what were you doing exactly?"

"Leading you on…" Reno grinned. "Actually I just wanted to see what you'd do. I expected you to stop me."

"Then you need to learn more about me…boss."

"Is that a challenge?"

"Perhaps."

"Hmn." The redhead smirked and gave Johnny's ear a none-too-gentle nip. "Remember that whimper for when we're off duty. That was hot."

Johnny laughed softly. "I'll remember. Goodnight Reno."

"Night Johnny."

Johnny slowly closed his eyes, his hand still settled on top of Reno's. The redhead gently dug his fingernails into Johnny's flesh before dozing off himself.

**TBC**  
(1)NVG Night Vision Goggles.

Wow. Long chapter… ;; I hit a wall a few times while writing this chapter but Kenji helped me get through it. So thanks to Kenji (smooch) R&R Please :).

**Author's notes:**  
**Q:** Is Reno sexist?  
**A:** No, he's not. He said this: "Focus Elena. You can get all femmy and sappy later." just to piss Elena off (it worked XD;) and this "My loyalty to Rufus cannot be derailed by the fact you gave me chump change from some dumb skank's account a year ago!" is just his opinion of Scarlet, not women in general.

**Palmer's death:** The only thing I know about death by water and electricity is what I've seen in the movies. So if wearing heavy duty rubber gloves and boots wouldn't protect the Turks from electrocution I apologize for my lack of knowledge and hope that you can put reality on hold for that scene.

**Loz:** I read as much material as I could on Advent Children and no one seems to (for sure) know where the SHM came from and where they were for 2 years. What happened at the beginning of the fic is just my theory. It's not official or anything. And yes, I know Loz isn't two years old. He's going to age more rapidly since he isn't human.


	7. Chapter 7

Johnny opened his eyes and frowned. There were weird, sparkly bubbles in the room. The brunette sat up…and the bubbles moved with his line of vision. The bubbles weren't physically in the room, he was hallucinating or something. Johnny closed his eyes, but even then he could still see sparkly bubbles behind his closed lids. The brunette shook his head rapidly. He thought he heard something but it sounded miles away and was muffled.

"Johnny?"

Reno's suddenly clear voice broke into the silence. The man's eyes snapped open, the bubbles were gone.

"Johnny?" Reno repeated. "Are you all right?"

Johnny looked at the clock, 6 A.M. on the dot. He blinked and looked over his shoulder at Reno. The redhead was propped up on his elbows with a sleepy yet concerned look on his face.

"You were shaking the whole bed."

"Sorry. I'm ok. Must've been dreaming…"

Reno nodded and lay back down, patting the space beside him. Johnny lay down again and pulled the covers up to his chin.

"So glad we can sleep for three more hours…" Reno muttered, drifting off to sleep again.

Johnny watched Reno sleep for nearly thirty minutes before he fell asleep once more.

-----------------------------------

When Johnny awoke again at 9 A.M. there were no more sparkly bubbles. There was only Reno sitting on the edge of the bed in his boxers having a smoke.

"Morning…" Johnny said with a yawn and a stretch.

"Mmmn…" Reno murmured, exhaling smoke.

"Not a morning person, huh?"

"Not until I've had six or so cups of coffee…" The redhead replied.

Johnny chuckled and got out of bed. "Do I have time to shower?"

"Yeah. The pilot hasn't called me yet."

The brunette dug a clean suit out of his bag then went into the washroom. He turned the shower on and pulled his underwear off. Johnny looked down at his abdomen and frowned. At first he thought there was a smudge on his skin but upon closer inspection he discovered a small, oddly-colored bruise next to his belly button.

"Hmn. Weird."

Johnny stepped into the shower and started to wash himself.

Reno considered joining Johnny in the shower but decided not to tempt himself. The man finished off his smoke then dressed. He was putting his jacket on when his cell rang. Reno flipped his phone open.

"Hello?"

"Good morning, Reno."

"Mornin' Mr. President."

"I have some good news for you."

"Oh?"

"Tseng is alive."

Silence. Reno blinked several times, not believing what he just heard. "Forgive me…but…could you run that by me again?"

"Due to the incompetence of the search team Tseng was declared dead. However he managed to walk to one of the beaches before collapsing. He was found by fishermen and brought to the tent city known as Mideel. Tseng was badly injured and fell into a coma. He didn't rouse from this state until a few days ago. When his rescuers finally found out who he was they contacted us. So now…you get to go and pick him up."

"So is Tseng still in charge since he's not dead?"

"No. You're still in charge for now. Tseng is to be brought back to Junon for healing."

"Will do."

"Good boy."

Rufus hung up. Reno sighed softly and closed his mobile. A small smile came to his lips.

"Tseng…you resilient bastard…"

Johnny emerged from the washroom freshly showered and dressed not even ten minutes later.

"Pack your stuff up. We have a new job to do."

Johnny nodded and packed away his stuff. They slung their bags over their shoulders and left their room. Reno knocked on Elena and Rude's door. Elena answered the door in her pajamas and looking tired.

"Time to get moving. We have a new assignment."

Elena yawned and nodded, closing the door again.

"Come on rookie."

Johnny followed Reno to the hotel lobby. The redhead gave the room keys back and his cell phone rang again.

"Hello?"

"We're right outside Wutai, Reno."

"Got enough fuel to make it to Mideel then back to Junon?"

"Yes."

"Good, because that's what we're doing."

Reno hung his cell up and waited for Elena and Rude. The pair entered the lobby a few minutes later.

"Okay. So what's our new mission?" Elena asked.

"We're going to Mideel…to pick up Tseng."

Elena's whole body went rigid, "W-what? Tseng is…is…"

"They just assumed he was dead. They never confirmed it. He's been in a coma all this time, but he woke up a few days ago and was able to say who he was."

"Tseng? Your old boss? He's alive?" Johnny blinked.

"Yeah. Apparently he's really lucky or has nine lives. He's waitin' in Mideel for us."

"How far is it to Mideel?" Elena asked.

"Twelve hour flight."

"Let's get going then."

Rude and Elena gave their room keys back and the Turks checked out. They left Wutai and found the Gelnika II waiting for them. The Turks boarded the plane and they were off.

"Tseng…he's been 'dead' for almost four months. I bet Rufus went completely ape shit on whoever made that mistake." Rude said as the plane lifted into the sky.

Once the plane levelled off Elena unbuckled her seatbelt and stood to pace around the plane. Johnny just kind of sat there looking out into space. He felt a bit nauseous at the moment. Oddly enough he hurt the most where that tiny bruise was. Johnny let out a shaky sigh and swallowed thickly.

"Hey Johnny, are you all right?" Rude asked. "You don't look so good."

"Just feeling a little queasy."

"Yeah. All this flying can get to you." Reno said. "You should go lie down."

Johnny nodded and unbuckled his seatbelt. As he was walking back to the living quarters the sparkly bubbles appeared again and this time they were accompanied by sparkly hexagons. Johnny shook his head and continued forward. He nearly collided with Elena, who was pacing in a circle, then collapsed on the couch.

"Johnny? Are you okay?" She asked.

Elena's voice sounded distorted and muffled to Johnny. He started to wonder if he'd been drugged.

But I haven't had anything to eat or drink yet today. They would've had to sneak passed Reno and drug me in my sleep. That doesn't make any bloody sense though…

"Johnny?" Elena repeated.

Her voice sounded clear this time. The sparkly bubbles and hexagons faded away.

"I'm fine." Johnny finally replied. "Flying just seems to take it out of me."

"Ah." Elena nodded. "Well don't worry, you'll get used to it eventually."

"Yeah."

Elena went back to pacing. Johnny lay there feeling nauseous until he fell asleep.

-------------------------

When Johnny awakened he felt much better. Nothing hurt and he didn't feel like throwing up anymore.

"Feeling better?"

Johnny looked up to see Reno standing in the little snack area, making himself some lunch.

"Much better." Johnny replied. "What time is it?"

"About half passed noon. Want some noodles?"

"Sure."

Johnny sat up and Reno sat beside him, two forks and a cup of noodles in hand.

"Still got a long way to go." Reno sighed. "Almost nine more hours."

"I wish we could go faster." Johnny said, accepting a fork from Reno.

"If we still had the Highwind we could've knocked three or four hours off our flight but…Cloud and his merry band have the Highwind."

"Stole it, huh?"

"More like stole it back."

Johnny nodded and the pair went about eating the cup of noodles. Johnny was starved but decided not to eat too much just in case. Once the noodles were done Reno threw the carton away and put the forks in the sink.

"Reno, will you look at something for me?"

"What is it?"

"There's this weird bruise on my abdomen. I just want to make sure it isn't…too weird."

"All right sweetness, lift your shirt up."

Johnny did as Reno asked and the redhead leaned down close to examine the bruise. "You're right, it's weird. It's an odd color…but it doesn't look like anything major."

At that moment Elena walked into the living quarters. "Ugh. Couldn't wait, huh Reno?"

Reno laughed. "I'm looking at a bruise. Come and see for yourself if you don't believe me."

Elena walked over and looked over her boss' shoulder. "Hmn. Weird color."

"Yeah, I know." Johnny said, letting his shirt drop back down.

"Don't worry about it." Reno said. "It's just a little bruise."

"All right."

The Turks spent the remaining nine hours of their flight drinking (one) beer, sleeping, reading magazines, and staring into space. Once in a while Reno would grumble about a TV.

When they landed outside Mideel it was 9:05 P.M. The sun had set and the Lifestream was an eerie green glow on the horizon.

"Mideel is practically squashed into one little corner of the island now. I wonder why they moved so far away." Rude murmured.

"I don't know. We can brainstorm about that after we have Tseng." Elena replied.

"Stop acting like an over zealous school girl, Elena." Reno said.

Elena shot Reno a glare. The co-pilot walked up to them then looked up at the Gelnika II.

"It'll take us about two hours to pump enough fuel into the tanks to get us to Junon."

Reno nodded, "Okay. Let's go then."

The Turks headed into Mideel, Elena in the lead. A small crowd was waiting for them when they entered the tent city.

"You are from Shin-Ra?" A woman asked.

"Yeah." Reno replied. "We're here to pick up Tseng."

The woman pointed to the only building in the entire 'town', a little shack at the edge of the tents.

"Your friend is there at the clinic."

Elena took off again, speed walking towards the clinic.

"Brace yourself, Elena. Tseng was badly injured and had only the magic this podunk little village has to cure him." Reno said.

"Yeah, yeah."

The Turks entered the shack. It was only one large room. A very pale and frail-looking Tseng lay on a cot at the back of the room. Beside the cot stood a man in a lab coat.

"Tseng?" Elena asked, moving to her former boss' side.

"He can't respond right now." The doctor said, looking up at her. "I gave him a sedative so he could sleep."

"What's his condition doc?" Reno asked.

"When Tseng first came to us he lost a lot of blood through a massive wound in his side. He was also bruised and had a few broken bones. He must've fallen a few times when walking through the woods. Because of his injuries and the great loss of blood Tseng slipped into a coma. We only have Potions here to heal people so he was really lucky he didn't pass away. Tseng's condition now is all right but it could be better. His muscles are very weak because they haven't been used for nearly four months. He also lost a lot of weight. We can only do so much to keep the patient nourished."

"Can we transport him to Junon without incident?" Elena wanted to know.

The doctor nodded, "He'll be fine."

"Great…well…we can't go anywhere until the plane is refuelled." Reno said. "Johnny, walk with me."

Johnny nodded. He and Reno left the clinic, Rude followed them. Elena moved to sit beside Tseng's bed. Once he was outside Reno flipped his cell open and phoned Rufus.

"Do you have him, Reno?"

"Yessir."

"What is his condition."

"Shitty, but he should improve quickly once he's in our care."

"Why did you phone, Reno?"

"If it weren't for these people Tseng would be dead…for real. I think we should give them some kind of reward."

"I'll take that into consideration."

Rufus hung up. Reno hung up too and sighed.

"Hey Reno…we're on display…"

The redhead looked up see that most everyone in the tent town was staring at them. There was an underlying fear there though. Everyone was still wary of Shin-Ra, not that Reno blamed them.

"Well since they're already staring at us let's ask why they moved so far away from the old site."

Rude nodded and the three men walked over to the nearest villager, an old woman standing in the entrance way of a large, purple tent.

"Want to tell us why Mideel is now squished into this tiny little corner of the island now?" Reno asked.

The elderly woman looked at the faint green glow in the distance then looked back at Reno. "The Lifestream used to be a comforting presence but…not anymore. It has changed somehow. There is…something wrong with it."

The woman shivered and without another word vanished into her tent. Johnny, Rude, and Reno turned to the faint glow in the distance.

"Something wrong with the Lifestream…?" Reno murmured.

**TBC**

* * *

Ooo, ahh…suspense. Well not really…oh well. Cut me some slack, I have the flu and can't think properly XD;; R&R Please :) 


	8. Chapter 8

Reno was still staring at the green glow in the distance, arms crossed, when his mobile rang. He fished his phone out of his pocket and flipped it open.

"Yo."

"We're refuelled and ready to transport Tseng."

"All right." Reno snapped his phone shut. "Rude, Johnny… let's go."

The two men followed Reno back to the clinic. Elena was still sitting beside Tseng looking tense and somewhat pale.

"What are you worrying yourself for, Elena? Tseng is going to be fine." Reno said.

Elena's jaw went rigid and she didn't reply. Reno had a few words with the doctor then they moved Tseng onto a stretcher and wheeled him out. As they left Mideel people peered out at them from their tents. The Turks took Tseng to the Gelnika II and, with the help of the co-pilot, got Tseng inside and settled on one of the couches.

"We'll have to strap him down while we take off." The co-pilot said.

"Like a piece of luggage…" Elena snorted.

"Would you rather we not secure him and let him roll around the plane?" Reno snapped.

Elena didn't reply. Rude and the co-pilot made sure Tseng was securely held in place before they went back to their seats.

"So…he's going to be okay, right?" Johnny asked as the plane rolled along the ground.

"Yeah." Reno nodded. "He'll be fine."

"Good."

Once the plane levelled off Elena left her seat and went to unstrap Tseng. She sat on the floor beside the couch and watched Tseng sleep.

"We won't reach Junon until morning." Reno said. "So get some sleep."

Rude and Johnny nodded. An hour passed before Rude left his seat. He found Elena asleep on the floor and smiled, shaking his head. He scooped the woman up and put her on the second couch, covering her with a blanket. He then got a blanket and pillow and made a bed for himself on the floor.

Reno sighed, "Top Shin-Ra employees and there's no decent place to sleep on this tub."

"Mmm…" Johnny replied, half asleep in his chair.

Reno smirked and closed his eyes, trying to make himself more comfortable in his seat.

-------------------------

The plane jolting woke Johnny up. He blinked and looked at his watch. It was nearly seven-thirty in the morning, they'd reach Junon soon. He yawned and looked over at Reno. The redhead was fast asleep with his mouth hanging slightly open. Johnny smirked and stood up, walking back into the living quarters. Rude was still asleep but Elena was sitting on the floor beside Tseng again.

"Morning." She mumbled as he walked into the kitchenette.

"Morning. Want some coffee?" He asked.

"No thanks."

"Did you eat breakfast?"

"No."

"You should at least eat a little bit, Elena…"

"I'm fine, Johnny. Thank-you."

Johnny got the coffee machine going and stood there staring at it, waiting for the coffee to brew. He was still half asleep so he didn't hear Reno come up behind him until the redhead's arms had slid around his waist.

"Coffee for me? I love you…" Reno murmured in Johnny's ear, teasing smirk apparent in his tone.

"It's too early in the morning to be horny." Elena said.

"I agree." Johnny smirked. "First cup is for me…"

"Hmph. Bitches." Reno smirked, releasing Johnny and moving to sit on the counter.

Once the coffee was brewed Johnny filled a cup for himself and moved to sit on the floor to drink it.

"Top Shin-Ra employees and we don't even have a decent place to sit down…" Reno muttered.

The redhead poured his own coffee and sat beside Johnny.

"So, how's he doing Elena?" Reno asked, motioning to Tseng.

"Good…I guess. I can't really tell. He hasn't moved all night. The only way I know he's alive is because his chest moves when he breathes…"

"Well…he's breathing. That's always good." Reno said, sipping his coffee.

Tseng grunted, making Elena and Johnny jump a bit. The woman sat up on her knees to get a better view of Tseng's face but he wasn't waking up.

"Dreaming I guess…" She murmured.

Rude walked up, sunglasses still on, and got himself a cup of coffee before sitting on the floor with everyone else.

"How's Tseng?" He asked.

"About as good as he can get." Reno replied.

------------------------

Tseng appeared to be waking up when they touched down in Junon. His eyelids fluttered a bit and he made noises that almost sounded like speech. Reno wasn't surprised to see Rufus waiting on the tarmac for them, his usual barrage of bodyguards surrounding him. Rude and Reno rolled Tseng's stretcher over to him and lowered it so the President could look at him. Johnny and Elena hung back. Rufus leaned over Tseng, some of his robes brushed against Tseng's face.

"Hello Tseng…" Rufus said.

Elena barely stopped herself from jumping when Tseng's eyes opened.

"Mr…Pres…i…dent…" Tseng replied weakly.

"Yes." The blonde smiled then looked up at his bodyguards. "Uzul. Riza. Take Tseng to the medical wing. Make sure his case is top priority."

"Yessir!"

The two bodyguards saluted and wheeled Tseng off.

"May I go with him, sir?" Elena asked.

Rufus' one visible eye gave her a sharp look, "You may not. You're still on duty."

"Y-yessir…" She replied quietly.

"Louder!" Rufus snapped.

"Yessir!"

The President turned his harsh gaze to Reno. "Keep those in your charge under control, Reno. Do not make me regret your promotion."

"Yessir." Reno replied.

"I am building a city at the edge of Midgar." Rufus said. "You will be going there to guard construction against monsters, Cloud, and his merry band. You leave tomorrow. Today you will be preparing for this while attending to your other duties. Rude. Elena. You will empty Palmer's account for me. Reno, you take Johnny to the swordsmanship expert to be evaluated. Once those responsibilities are complete you're off duty and are welcome to do whatever you wish. Except…" He shot a look at Reno again. "You may not visit Tseng until I say so. Is that clear?"

"Yessir!" The Turks replied in unison.

"Let's go."

The remainder of Rufus' bodyguards wheeled him off.

"Rufus needs to get laid. He's bitchy." Reno muttered.

Johnny stifled a chuckled behind his hand and Rude smirked. Elena however was already walking off to attend to her duties.

"See you two later." Rude said, waving and jogging off after Elena.

"Well…let's go home and get your sword…then it's off to the expert."

"All right."

---------------------------

Reno stood, arms folded, as he watched Johnny do a routine for the expert. He bit his lower lip slightly. The brunette was shirtless and sweaty and…hot.

Fuck…I need to get laid… Reno thought, looking elsewhere to keep his mind off things.

Once Johnny was finished he mopped the sweat from his brow and looked at the expert.

"Hmn…" The man stood. "You're good…but not good enough. You need to practice more."

"Yessir." Johnny replied.

"Come and see me again in a month. Until then you'll have to use a regulation gun."

"Yessir."

The expert bid farewell to Reno and Johnny then left. Johnny stood there with a grim expression on his face. Reno smirked and walked up to him.

"The bastard failed me five times before he let me use my precious night stick."

Johnny looked at Reno and smiled weakly.

"C'mon. We should go pack and get ready for our big trip."

Johnny nodded and pulled his shirt back on. The pair made their way back home. While Johnny washed his and Reno's dirty suits Reno packed the things they'd need.

------------------------------

Rufus was wheeled into Tseng's room. Tseng was looking better already now that he was under Shin-Ra's care. The man was sitting up in his bed gazing out the window.

"Hello Tseng."

"Hello Mr. President." Tseng replied, looking at the blonde.

"How are you feeling?"

"Better than I ever have."

Rufus waved one hand dismissively at his bodyguards and they left the room, closing the door behind them. He noticed Tseng looking him over and smiled bitterly.

"Diamond Weapon nearly ended my life."

"I'm sorry I wasn't there to help you, sir."

"That's all right, Tseng." Rufus leaned forward a bit. "I came here because I'm interested in hearing your version of the story."

Tseng nodded, looked briefly out the window, then looked back at the President.

"After Cloud, Aerith, and Cid left everything went cold. I don't know how long I sat there. Everything went black and I closed my eyes…and then… I heard her. Aerith's voice. She was telling me to get up. To get out of the Temple. I opened my eyes and I was in a forest. Aerith was standing in front of me holding her hand out to me. She told me to get up and to leave again. She looked transparent but when I took a hold of her hand she felt solid and she pulled me to my feet easily. She pointed to a light in the distance and I started stumbling through the forest towards the light. Once I reached the light I found myself on a beach and I collapsed. I don't know if it was a hallucination or I was sleep walking or if Aerith really saved me…" The man trailed off.

"Do you remember anything after collapsing on the beach?"

"Just waking up with people standing over me asking me who I was and who they should contact. After that…I don't remember much until I woke up here." Tseng looked at Rufus. "If you don't mind telling me, sir… what happened after I fell into my coma?"

Rufus leaned back in his wheelchair and spent the next two hours filling Tseng in on everything that had happened. The color faded a bit from Tseng's cheeks when Rufus mentioned Aerith's death but he didn't say anything. Once Rufus was finished speaking his throat felt dry and scratchy. He cleared his throat and Tseng instantly poured a glass of water for his President. Rufus smiled bitterly again.

"I cannot hold a cup, Tseng."

Tseng immediately leapt out of bed. His muscles had been strengthened and repaired by the Shin-Ra's strong magic but his legs were still shaky. Rufus watched as Tseng walked slowly over to him.

"Here…" Tseng held the glass to Rufus lips.

Rufus drank his fill then waved Tseng away. The man put the glass down then hauled himself back into bed.

"Azure!" Rufus barked.

Rufus' biggest bodyguard came into the room and started to wheel the President out.

"It's good that you're alive, Tseng." Rufus said before Azure wheeled him out into the hallway. As he was wheeled along to his Healing appointment Rufus frowned. He pulled one sleeve of his white robe up to reveal splotchy, oddly colored bruises.

These bruises... they have not faded since my treatments began...

**TBC

* * *

Kind of a short chapter but I have writer's block. Rufus is such a bitch XD;; R&R Please :)**


	9. Chapter 9

Due to sexual content this chapter has been **heavily edited.** If you want the **unedited** version e-mail me.

* * *

"Hmn…" The doctor finished her examination of Johnny's eyes. "I don't see anything wrong with your eyes. You say you saw sparkly shapes?" 

"Yeah." Johnny nodded.

Once he was off duty Johnny had gone to the doctor. He made sure to go to a section far away from the Shin-Ra. Johnny had also lied about his name. He didn't want this showing up on his record.

"And you're sure there's no way you could have been poisoned?"

"Positive."

"What do you do for a living Mr. Sanders?"

"Uh…" Johnny scratched the back of his head. "I'd rather not say…"

"Well…with that kind of answer I'd say that your condition is probably stress related. Have you been under considerable stress lately?"

"I've been stressed but not considerably…" Johnny replied.

"How well do you handle stress?"

"Uh…okay I guess. I could probably improve."

"M-hm…I'm going to prescribe a very mild anti-anxiety pill for you. See if that helps."

"All right. And…about this bruise?"

The doctor didn't look up from her clipboard. "It is an unusual color, but it's nothing to worry about. It should heal within a few days."

"All right doctor. Thank-you."

"Here." She handed his prescription to him.

"Thanks again."

"You're welcome. Is there anything else?"

"Nope. I'm good."

"All right. Have a nice day, Mr. Sanders."

"You too doc."

Johnny jumped off the examination table. The doctor left the room and Johnny re-buttoned his shirt and put his boots on. He looked down at his prescription with scepticism. The brunette highly doubted his strange episodes were caused by stress but he was willing to try anything. Johnny relaced his boots and left the examination room. He headed back out onto the streets and headed to the nearest pharmacy to fill his prescription.

* * *

Rufus was just returning from his own doctor's visit. As Azure wheeled him down the hall to his office Rufus mulled over everything the doctor had told him. Magic and potions were not working on some of his bruises. The doctor was seeing a lot of this lately, especially in small children. Something was up and Rufus wasn't happy about it. Azure wheeled the President into his office and situated him behind his desk. 

"Tell the Turks that they're allowed to visit Tseng now if they wish."

"Yes Mr. President."

Azure turned and left Rufus' office, closing the doors behind him. The blonde sighed and gazed out the large window behind him. It was noon and the sun was high up in the sky, making the ocean sparkle brightly.

"Bruises that aren't fading. Bruises on myself and children. What could it be…? How is it all connected?" Rufus muttered to himself, pinching the bridge of his nose slightly.

"You look like you need to relieve some tension."

Rufus was startled but didn't let it show. Instead he looked over and glared at Reno.

"Where did you come from?"

The redhead shrugged and smirked, "Sorry boss. A girl's gotta have some secrets."

"I know there's two secret passages in this place and once I figure out where they are I'm having them filled with cement."

"Aww." Reno mock-pouted. "That's no fun…"

The Turks walked over and sat in the chair in front of Rufus' desk, setting his feet up on the polished wood surface of the blonde's desk.

"What do you want Reno?" Rufus asked irritably.

"I'm just wondering if I get to keep my promotion since Tseng isn't actually dead. I'm also wondering if I get to keep Johnny as well."

"Once Tseng is completely recuperated he will be reinstated as first in command."

"And Johnny…?"

"He may stay. An extra Turks won't cost me that much."

"You're getting soft, Rufus." Reno teased. "**(Edited)**."

Rufus snorted. "I should cut your tongue out for talking to me like that."

"Mmmn. I like pain."

"You're a mongrel, Reno. I don't know why I keep you around."

Reno took his feet off Rufus' desk and leaned forward with a large grin on his face.

"**(Edited)**."

The President let out a short little bark of laughter. "Tell me Reno, is there a hint among your 'subtle' words?"

"You caught onto that, huh?" Reno chuckled. "I'm horny and you need to get laid… I thought we could help each other out."

"And what makes you think that I need to be satisfied?"

"Because you're crankier than usual."

Rufus snorted again. Still smirking, Reno rose from his chair and walked around the desk.

**(Missing sex scene)**

"Want back in your wheelchair?"

"Yes."

Reno slung Rufus' arm around his shoulders and helped the blonde over to his wheelchair. Rufus settled in and folded his hands in his lap.

"Want to share a smoke, boss?"

"Yes."

Reno took a pack of cigarettes out of his coat pocket and shook one out. He placed the cigarette between his lips and lit it. The man took a drag then held the cigarette to Rufus' lips. The blonde took a drag and leaned back.

"Something strange is going on Reno." Rufus said, exhaling his smoke.

"Oh?" Reno took another drag.

"There are bruises on my body that no magic or potion has been able to cure so far. These bruises are also present on the children of Midgar."

Reno frowned, "What does it mean?"

"I do not know. Not yet anyway."

Reno held the cigarette to the President's lips again and the blonde took another drag.

"But you'll find out, eh boss?"

"Of course."

The redhead took the last drag and smudged his cigarette out in the ashtray on Rufus' desk. Reno leaned down and pressed his lips to Rufus briefly before standing up and exhaling his smoke.

"I'll see you later, Mr. President. Be good while I'm gone."

Rufus snorted. "You're going to pay once I've got my strength back."

"I'm looking forward to that." Reno grinned.

The redhead walked around the desk and headed for the door.

"You aren't going out the way you came in?" Rufus asked.

"And give away my secret? Nice try boss." Reno laughed, opening the door and stepping out into the hall.

"Reno?" Azure blinked. "Where did you come from?"

"I fell from the sky." Reno replied, closing the door behind him and heading off.

-------

Johnny stood at the kitchen sink looking over his bottle of pills. He didn't think these would work, but maybe…

With a sigh the brunette read the instructions. He then popped one pill into his mouth and swallowed it down with some water. He looked up as he heard Reno's key in the door. The brunette went upstairs and stuffed his pills into his luggage as Reno came in downstairs.

"Honey I'm home!" He called.

Johnny laughed softly and zipped his bag shut. "Hello Reno."

The brunette went back downstairs to find Reno standing in the kitchen looking through the fridge.

"Ready for our big trip tomorrow?" He asked.

"Sure I guess." Johnny replied.

Reno grabbed a beer and stood up.

"Reno…what happened to your lip?" The brunette blinked.

The redhead reached up and touched his lower lip which was now encrusted with blood. He'd completely forgotten about it.

"Ah. That." He grinned. "Rufus and I had some fun."

"I see." Johnny said, blushing slightly.

The brunette walked up to Reno, licked his thumb, and cleaned Reno's lip off.

"Thanks." Reno grinned, kissing Johnny's thumb. "Rufus told me something fairly interesting after we had our fun."

"Oh?"

Johnny went to the fridge. He reached for the beer then stopped himself. He wasn't supposed to have alcohol with his pills. The brunette dug through the fridge's contents and found a bottle of soda. Johnny twisted the cap off and stood up, taking a sip of his soda.

"Yeah. Apparently he has strange bruises that aren't going away. Some kids have them too."

Johnny's eyes widened. He choked on his sip of soda then dropped the bottle. It shattered on the floor, spreading glass and soda all over the tile. Reno jumped back then moved to Johnny's side. The brunette was hunched over, coughing.

"Johnny? Are you all right?"

"Y-yeah. Just swallowed down the wrong tube." Johnny lied.

Strange bruises? Like the one I have…?

**TBC**

**

* * *

**Ooo. It's all coming together… XD R&R please :) 


	10. Chapter 10

Reno was watching Johnny carefully. Ever since he'd told the man about Rufus' news the brunette had been really quiet and kind of pale.

"Do you want some lunch Johnny?"

"No…"

"What's wrong?"

Johnny sighed softly, "Nothing."

Reno shrugged one shoulder and went to rummage in the fridge for some lunch. "Okay then."

It seemed that Reno had forgotten that Johnny had a bruise too. Of course the brunette hadn't tried to use magic or potion on it yet, but now he was afraid to. With the other symptoms he had… Johnny was sure he had the same thing the President had.

* * *

Rufus poked at his lunch then took a sip of wine. A bit of his strength had returned after his most recent round of cures. Flesh had returned to his hands and soon he wouldn't need to wear gloves. However, this round of magic had also unearthed something disturbing. The flesh that had grown back on his right hand was not new and flawless. It was bruised… just like his arm. Rufus got a twinge of pain in said arm, but he ignored it.

"Sir?" Azure broke in on the intercom. "Your one o'clock is here."

"Send her in. I'm finished lunch."

"Yes sir."

Not even a few seconds later the doors to his office opened and Professor Trepe entered. The woman walked right up to Rufus' desk and extended her hand to him.

"Good afternoon Mr. President."

"Good afternoon Professor Trepe." Rufus replied, briefly shaking the woman's hand. "Your report?"

"Since it's now illegal to use Mako power people have been scrambling to find new resources. Wind, water, solar, and coal are the most popular ideas right now. We already have several systems in mind. However it will be difficult to keep these systems Shin-Ra only owned. More than likely other organizations will pop up with their own systems."

"That's fine."

"But we…w-what?" Prof. Trepe stammered. "B-but the fact that only the Shin-Ra could harness Mako is what made it so powerful. If you… if we are not the only company providing alternate fuels Shin-Ra's power will diminish and the company many even collapse."

"Good."

"Sir…!"

"Why are you arguing with me Ms. Trepe?" Rufus asked coldly. "Are you tired of living?"

"N-no sir…" Professor Trepe murmured.

"All right then. Junon's electricity is already being provided by a water system. I suggest similar systems for other coastal towns like Costa Del Sol. For Edge I would like a wind or solar system. Maybe even both."

"Yes sir."

"Healin is complete right?"

"Yes. It has a solar system."

"Thank-you. That is all. You're dismissed Professor."

"Thank-you sir."

Professor Trepe turned and quickly left Rufus' office. The blonde finished off his wine and stared up at the ceiling. Perhaps it would be a good thing if the Shin-Ra died out…

"Sir." Azure was on the intercom again. "Your one thirty appointment is here early."

"That's fine. Send him in."

The doors to Rufus' office opened slowly and Reeve poked his head inside, looking nervous.

"Come in, Reeve." Rufus said.

Reeve cleared his throat anxiously and stepped into the room. "Hello Mr. President…"

"I'm surprised you came to be honest."

"I'm surprised you sent a polite invitation by messenger instead of a kidnapping by Turks."

Rufus smiled softly. Reeve had guts.

"Please…" The blonde motioned to the chair in front of his desk. "Sit. My business with you won't last long."

Reeve walked over and sat in front of Rufus' desk.

"My sources tell me you're in the process of organizing something called the World Restoration Organization."

"That's right." Replied Reeve. "And my sources tell me you're planning to build a city called Edge outside of Midgar."

"That is correct."

The blonde pushed a piece of paper over to Reeve and the man picked it up. His eyes widened,

"R-Rufus… this is…?"

"My donation to your organization."

"Th-this is…so much…"

"It leaves me with enough gil to pursue my own endeavours… maybe with a little bit leftover for me to indulge with."

"What's the catch?"

Rufus smiled softly, "No catch. The Shin-Ra family owes a huge debt to the world. I know my donation doesn't come close to eradicating that debt, but it's a start."

"Rufus… sir…"

Rufus waved his hand dismissively at Reeve. He was starting to feel emotional in the older man's presence. "Just go before I change my mind, Reeve."

"…Thank-you Rufus. I'll never forget this."

"Go." Rufus repeated.

Reeve nodded, took his cheque, and left Rufus' office. Rufus sighed softly and leaned back in his chair, staring up at the ceiling. The Shin-Ra still had a long way to go before its sins were absolved.

* * *

Johnny's alarm clock rang at 6:15 exactly. The brunette yawned and rolled over, turning his alarm off. He yawned again, stretched, and got out of bed. Johnny checked over his luggage then brought it downstairs. He chuckled lightly. Reno was fast asleep at the island in the middle of the kitchen. Johnny walked over to him and slid his hands over Reno's shoulders.

"Reno…wake up…"

"Hmn…?" The redhead grunted.

"You fell asleep."

"Coffee maker is broken…" Reno muttered, burying his face in his folded arms. "Sleep…"

"You can't sleep. We have to leave soon. I'll make you some breakfast."

Reno groaned and lifted his head up. "Coffee…"

"No coffee. Fruit. Fruit gives you energy."

The elder Turks sighed and thunked his head back down onto his arms.

"Your caffeine dependency isn't a good thing, Reno." Johnny said.

The brunette rummaged around in the fridge and managed to find enough fruit and other ingredients to make two fruit salads for their breakfast. He then sat beside Reno and slid one bowl in front of the redhead.

"Tired…"

Johnny chuckled and picked up half a strawberry, holding it to Reno's lips, "Come on. Eat. It'll wake you up."

Reno sighed but ate the slice of strawberry offered to him. Johnny started to eat his own breakfast, checking on Reno once in a while to make sure the older man was eating as well. By the time they were both done eating Reno had perked up considerably.

"See?" Johnny smirked. "You don't need coffee."

"I'm amazed…" Reno laughed. "But I still want coffee."

The brunette sighed and shook his head. He took the dishes to the sink and washed them out. Reno disposed of what very little food they had left and then the pair were on their way. They locked the front door and headed out onto the sidewalk. Rude was already waiting there for them with his own luggage. Elena joined them a few moments later.

"…Is Tseng coming?" Johnny asked.

"No. Not yet." Rude replied. "He's still recovering. He should be joining us in a week."

Johnny nodded and the Turks headed for the airport. Rufus and some of his bodyguards were waiting for them there.

"We will be flying to Healin Lodge. You will live there and commute to Edge every day." Rufus said.

The Turks nodded and boarded the plane with their President. It was a four hour flight to Healin. Johnny sat next to Reno and strapped himself in. Reno watched as Rufus' bodyguards strapped the President into a seat then left the plane, closing the door behind them.

"They're not coming?" Reno asked.

"No. I cannot afford bodyguards and the Turks so I cut my bodyguard budget out. Today was their last day. You are my bodyguards now. One of you will remain behind at Healin Lodge with me."

"Elena." Reno said.

Elena glared at Reno.

"Actually I'm keeping Mr. Williams with me for the first week." Rufus replied.

The redhead pouted slightly and Elena gave him a smug grin. Johnny just chuckled. He didn't mind the assignment. Guarding Rufus sounded a lot more exciting than guarding a construction site. The plane rocked slightly as it took off.

"How are you feeling, sir?" Rude suddenly asked.

Rufus smiled slightly, "Better. Thank-you."

"Bad news for me." Reno smirked.

Rufus laughed darkly and Elena raised an eyebrow.

"It's a guy thing…" The redhead said.

"Hmph. Sexist." Elena snorted.

"You don't want to know, Elena." Rude said.

Elena looked at Rude briefly before shrugging and grabbing a magazine. The plane hit a small bit of turbulence and shook again. Johnny held onto his seat tightly, feeling slightly nervous.

"Hey sir… want to change a rule for me?" Reno asked.

"Which one?" Rufus replied.

"The one about fucking while on duty." The Turks replied, smirking at Johnny.

"You're such a whore, Reno." Elena said, not looking up from her magazine.

"It's part of my charm, baby." Reno said with a grin and a shrug. "So? Whatta say Mr. President?"

"We'll take it for a test drive. The rule is temporarily void. We'll see if you're distracted or not."

"Reno is always distracted." Elena put in.

"Suck my balls." Reno responded.

"Now children…" Rufus chuckled. "Don't make me turn this plane around…"

"I'll be good." The redhead smirked.

Reno leaned back in his seat, grinning widely. _That stupid ass rule has been thrown out. Score…_

The turbulence came to an end and the plane stopped rocking. Johnny was about to reach for a magazine when a sharp stabbing pain hit him in the gut. At the same time a blinding pain tore through the side of his head. It felt like someone had hit him with a blunt object. Sparkles and weird colors flashed before his eyes.

"Johnny? Are you all right?"

Elena was talking to him, but she sounded miles away. Johnny just nodded and unbuckled his seatbelt. He walked stiffly to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. Had he not been so pale Johnny probably wouldn't have noticed the discoloration poking out of his hairline. Johnny frowned and leaned closer to the mirror. It was a bruise. There was a bruise on the side of his head. It wasn't very wide but it was long. It extended from his temple, through his sideburn, and down behind his ear. More pain jarred his head and Johnny was horrified to see that the bruise on the side of his head was leaking some sort of viscous black fluid. The brunette quickly wadded up a bunch of toilet paper and pressed it to his head. There was a twinge from his gut and Johnny looked down to see a black stain forming on his shirt.

"Shit." He cussed.

The man wadded up more toilet paper and put it to the bruise on his abdomen.

Rufus wasn't doing too well either. He jerked forward in his seat, clutching his arm.

"Sir!" Elena exclaimed, watching with wide eyes as black liquid seeped through the sleeve of Rufus' robe and through his glove.

Both Reno and Rude jumped to their feet and quickly unstrapped Rufus. The blonde had no control over his muscles and his fingers curled up painfully.

"Shit…" Reno cussed, wrapping Rufus' arm in a bandage. "What is this? A side effect from the cures?"

"No…" Rufus growled through gritted teeth. "It's the disease…"

* * *

The baby that had been born from the Lifestream was not a baby any longer. It shouldn't have been possible… but there he was. Loz looked to be almost three years old now. The toddler stood at the edge of the Lifestream, watching it tremble and boil. A bubble of black sludge rose up and lazily floated over to Loz. The boy held his arms out and the bubble popped, dropping a baby into his arms.

"Hewo Yawzoo." Loz smiled down at the new baby brother Mother had given him.

**TBC**

* * *

Awww. Loz is so cute and scary all at the same time XD;; R&R Please :) 


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